Keeping the project alive.

• Author: GOULIQUER, DIANNE
• Position: Brief Article

Northern Roads Initiative committee members seek government support

It may only be a matter of months before the wheels start turning on an initiative that would not only open up Ontario's remote northern areas, but also bring Manitoba a little closer to communities in northwestern Ontario.

The Northern Roads Initiative is one that has been visited and revisited for over a decade, says Brian Larson who sits on the committee dedicated to the initiative. But the chance of it becoming a reality has never been better.

"There have always been wheels turning" to make this happen, Larson says. "Back when the NDP government was in power was probably the closest it came (to becoming a reality), but then it just fell apart. We think we're the closest we've ever been now to getting this going."

The initiative would see the creation of an all-season road from Red Lake heading into remote northern Ontario, where winter roads are currently the only system in place.

"The road into the north - into the Northern communities which are home to about 4,000 First Nations people - would give them an all-season, full-access road 12 months of the year," Larson says. "As it stands right now, they've got to fly material in or rely on winter roads. The winter roads for the last couple of years have not been great; we've had poor conditions for ice, and it just costs so much for people to be able to bring material up. Most of it is shipped up by truck or by plane and it's expensive. This would give people a full all-season road and also allow for economic development."

The road would also cross over the Manitoba border, shaving nearly three hours off a road trip to Winnipeg.

"This is a two-part road," Larson says. "There's always been a real desire for a road to go west from Red Lake (which is located northwest of Thunder Bay up on Hwy 105 from Hwy 17). It's quite a jaunt down Hwy 105, but if you were to go straight through just below the Sydney Lake/Red Lake corridor, you could be in Manitoba in two-and-a-half to three hours, versus five or five-and-a-half hours. You could actually be in Winnipeg in three hours."

He says the creation of this new road would allow for economic development opportunities in the remote First Nations communities, as well as make potential customers in Manitoba a little more accessible. Even First Nations communities in Manitoba would stand to benefit.

"It opens up the North and it also makes...