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Lakeshore residents want their pothole-laden access road fixed, but municipality says it's not theirs to repair

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Residents who live along Couture Beach in Lakeshore are up in arms over the condition of the only access road leading to their homes.

“Let’s just say you don’t wonna stop at Tim Horton’s before you come on it,” said Vince Renaud, a 20-year resident of Couture Beach Road in Lakeshore.

Renaud and 25 other year-round residents of the Couture Beach Community play a game of dodge the pothole every time they use the lone access road out of their property.

“It was really, really good until about three years ago, two years ago,” said Renaud, noting the municipality has maintained the road in the past. “But for whatever reason, they just stopped repairing the road, they stopped keeping it up.”

What makes matters a bit sticky there’s currently a dispute over who should be maintaining the pothole-filled roadway: the municipality, or the estate which owns the private road.

Bruce Gadal, who has lived in the community for 70 years, said the former township of Tilbury North once had two access roads to Couture Beach. But after some fatal train incidents, the other public road was closed and the Couture Road crossing was made safer with guided arms.

The catch, of course, is that the road has long been privately owned and the municipality claims that leaves maintenance work up to the private owner.

“It is owned by a third party. And that's part of the problem. That's the challenge that we've had with private roads in Lakeshore and in fact in all of Essex County,” said Ward 6 Lakeshore Coun. Larissa Vogler.

Residents say the owner of Couture Road passed away in 2019 and it’s now the property of his estate.

The Municipality of Lakeshore confirms it has sent a letter to the owner regarding the state of the road.

“I can't understand why a private citizen should maintain a road that's being used for public access with a public crossing,” said Gadal, who notes it’s also the only road for police, fire, EMS and other services to access these properties.

Coun. Vogler tells CTV Windsor the municipality is bringing a private road study before council in a few weeks’ time.

“That may shape how we move forward. And I personally would like to see the municipality take a role in seeing this role repaired in one way or another,” she said. “We owe that to our residents. Safety and well-being always has to come first.”

Vogler says council and the municipality are taking steps to resolve the issue once and for all, but residents are anxious for answers.

“The question will be, what are our legal options to move forward to ensure that this is resolved safely and quickly?” Vogler said.

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