If you drive Highway 3 through St. Thomas, the closure has switched sides. As of Tuesday evening, September 29th, Highway 3 is closed between Wellington Road and First Avenue. Eastbound access from Wellington Road and the westbound on-ramp from First Avenue are both closed. East of First Avenue, the stretch to the Highbury Avenue/Centennial Avenue roundabout, closed since the end of June, is open to traffic in both directions, and the First Avenue on-ramp to Highway 3 eastbound is open.
As of 6:30am Wednesday, no notice of the change had been posted by the province, the City or Elgin County, and nothing had been announced about whether the work east of First Avenue is completely finished.
The west side is the second stage
The province’s April notice for this work planned it in two stages. The first stage closed Highway 3 from First Avenue to Centennial Avenue. The second stage would close Highway 3 from Wellington Road to First Avenue, along with the westbound on-ramp and the eastbound off-ramp at the First Avenue interchange. That second stage is the stretch that is closed now.
No end date has been posted for the new closure, and nothing has been posted saying which detour is signed for it. The April notice said the work and its closures were expected to be finished in 2026. The November 15th date that LocVox reported on September 19th came from the 511 listing for the earlier, east-side closure.
Both stages are early utility work, moving pipes and storm sewers out of the way so the highway can be widened later. The widening itself is a separate contract that Ontario’s highway project list shows starting in 2027.
Your map app may be behind
On Tuesday evening, Google Maps and TomTom were both still showing Highway 3 closed east of First Avenue, all the way to the roundabout, even though that stretch is open. If your app sends you around the open stretch, that is likely why.
Sources: Notice of Project Update: Highway 3 Municipal Utility Relocations (April 2026), Highway 3 Twinning and Talbotville Bypass project website, Ontario 511
By Anthony Zruna · About the LocVox Newsroom
