Summary
On Sunday, October 5, 2025, much of Prince Edward County’s main routes into town were effectively shut down. Major roads from Wellington to Picton were closed for hours for the annual County Marathon, leaving many residents stranded or forced into lengthy detours. While visitors and runners enjoyed the event, residents — the very taxpayers who fund the roads — faced blocked access, confusion, and frustration.
One resident was in tears at the intersection of County Road 10 and 11 because she couldn’t get to work. Others couldn’t even return home. At several intersections, even OPP officers appeared unsure of local detours. Many stationed at closures were not from the County and unfamiliar with its geography, leaving drivers frustrated and directionless. It’s time for the County to rethink how and where large events are held. Future marathons should be routed away from towns and major arteries, not through them.
A Tourism-First Mentality at Shire Hall
This event underscores a deeper pattern: County Council’s reflex to prioritize tourists over taxpayers. Roads are closed for visitors while locals are treated as an inconvenience. Major public resources — policing, road crews, and communications — are devoted to an event that benefits a narrow slice of the population for a few hours, while residents bear the costs in lost time, fuel, and patience. Council’s enthusiasm for high-profile events contrasts sharply with its sluggish attention to everyday issues like road maintenance, water service, and bylaw reform. The message seems clear: the louder the crowd, the faster the County listens.
Locked Out of Our Own County
Residents awoke Sunday morning to find nearly every main route to Picton was closed to vehicle traffic until 1:30pm. These are not backroads or rural lanes — they are the County’s primary transportation corridors. For much of the morning and early afternoon, they were completely off-limits to residents trying to get to work, appointments, or even back to their own homes. The closures included:
- County Road 33 (Wellington to Bloomfield): 7:30 a.m. – 10 a.m.
- County Road 12 (Bloomfield to Sandbanks): 8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
- County Roads 11 & 10 (Sandbanks to Picton): 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
- Picton Main Street (Lake Street to Crystal Palace): 7:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
“I have volunteered for this in the past…stopped when they began treating volunteers like human barriers with no respect ( and i mean the organizers). In the past the road in picton where we live would be closed just as first runners approached. This year it was 730! Before anyone even left the start! Nuts! I do believe it is possible to negotiate street closures with some help perhaps, but the auxiliary costs are all borne by county businesses and institutions…for example our church had about half normal attendance. So not only do some seniors lose one of their only outings for the wk but the church loses the normal collection it would receive. Sure, first world problems but even so..” – Resident
Five Simple Fixes for Future Marathons
- Reroute Away from Towns: Move the marathon to quieter, less-populated roads such as Royal Road or County Roads 7 and 8.
- Rolling Closures Only: Keep short segments closed as runners pass, instead of full-morning shutdowns.
- Local Detour Maps: Publish simple route maps mailed directly to residents and posted online a week before the event.
- Local OPP Coordination: Assign officers with local knowledge or pair visiting officers with County-based staff. Add policing cost to tickets.
- Resident Access Permits: Allow limited local travel through key crossings between race waves.
- All expenses paid by organizers including policing, organization and support services. We understand the OPP officers are off duty and paid a premium hourly rate for their presence during the marathon. The cost to taxpayers must be $0.
These are practical, inexpensive changes that would transform the marathon from a day of frustration into a genuine community event.
A Call for Common Sense
Every time an event like this causes widespread disruption, public trust erodes further. Residents begin to see their municipal government as unresponsive and out of touch. The County should never have to choose between tourism and community — but right now, it does, and it keeps choosing wrong.
Prince Edward County should remain a welcoming destination — but not at the expense of those who live here year-round. Events can coexist with daily life if they are planned with respect for residents first, tourists second. The next time runners line up for the County Marathon, they should be on Royal Road, County Road 7, or another route that celebrates the County’s landscape — not its traffic chaos. Until then, the message from residents is clear: Residents are not against marathons. Residents are against being locked out of our own homes.
When Celebration Becomes Disruption
Few residents object to welcoming visitors or supporting charity events. But this year’s marathon revealed what happens when planning fails to balance community life with tourism promotion. Entire neighbourhoods were cut off from town centres, and emergency access routes were limited. Some residents reported being unable to reach farms, care homes, or workplaces. Others spent over an hour navigating makeshift detours — often without clear signage.
At several intersections, even OPP officers appeared unsure of local detours. Many stationed at closures were not from the County and unfamiliar with its geography, leaving drivers frustrated and directionless. Residents were routed through dusty and unsafe roads such as airport road. The confusion wasn’t their fault — it was a failure of event coordination. When police, residents, and organizers are all operating without clear local knowledge or communication.
It’s true that some local residents take part in the County Marathon each year — but the facts show that this is not a community event in any meaningful sense, and its claimed economic value is vastly overstated. According to Athletics Ontario race data and the County Marathon’s 2024 registration report, the event had about 950 runners.
- 72–78 percent came from outside Prince Edward County — mainly the GTA, Ottawa, and upper New York State.
- Only about 250 local runners participated — less than 1 percent of the County’s population.
- (Source: Athletics Ontario; County Marathon 2024)
Meanwhile, the 2025 race closed more than 60 kilometres of roads for up to seven hours, cutting off east–west access entirely. These are the County’s busiest arteries — collectively serving more than 18,000 vehicle trips daily in summer (County Transportation Master Plan 2024). Residents, businesses, and emergency services were all forced into long detours or gridlock.
The economic claims don’t add up.
Using standard tourism multipliers from Destination Ontario and RTO9, even generous assumptions yield modest returns:
- 700 visitors × 1.5 companions × 1.3 nights × $180 average daily spend = ≈ $245,000 in visitor spending.
- Doubling that for day-trip spending brings the total to under $500,000 in direct economic activity.
Against that:
- Policing and traffic control: ≈ $35,000 (OPP paid-duty and County logistics)
- Road closures, signage, detours, overtime: ≈ $25,000
- Lost business access and labour impacts: ≈ $100–150 k
- Resident and emergency disruptions: significant but unquantified
That means for every $1 of visitor spending, local taxpayers and businesses absorb roughly $0.35 in direct costs — before counting lost productivity.
And the long-term benefits? Essentially none.
County labour data show that tourism jobs remain over 65 percent seasonal and average only 28 hours per week (StatsCan Table 14-10-0386-01; RTO9 2024 Impact Report). Full-time year-round tourism employment has been flat since 2018.
For context, the entire summer festival circuit (Sandbanks Music Fest, Lavender Fest, Art Trail) combined generates under $3 million in local economic activity each year — less than 2 percent of total County GDP — yet routinely causes road, waste, and policing overruns that cost residents more than they gain.
Other municipalities handle these events better:
- Belleville Triathlon: 600 participants, road closures under 2 hours, economic impact ≈ $400 k — contained within Zwick’s Park and downtown loop.
- Cobourg Waterfront Festival: 50,000 visitors, all within Victoria Park — no highway closures.
- Prince Edward County’s approach — closing core arterials for most of a day — is an outlier.
Alternative routes such as Royal Road or County Roads 7 and 8 could still deliver scenic value without paralyzing the County’s main corridor. Event organizers could also fund their own policing, detours, and emergency coverage — as required elsewhere under OPP’s Paid Duty Event Policy. The marathon can continue — but responsibly. It should benefit the community, not inconvenience it. Right now, it creates disproportionate cost for negligible long-term gain.
Better Routes, Smarter Planning
There’s no reason the marathon has to run through the busiest parts of the County. Safer, less disruptive routes exist — they just require common sense and community consideration.
Future marathons could be held along:
- Royal Road — scenic, wide, and largely rural, minimizing disruption to towns.
- County Roads 7 and 8 — less densely populated, with fewer commercial intersections and direct access points for safety vehicles.
These roads offer beautiful countryside views without blocking main arteries or isolating hundreds of households. They also provide ample space for start and finish areas near secondary roads and open fields — ideal for staging and parking. A shift to these corridors would not only reduce disruption but also restore goodwill between residents and event organizers.