A three-stage development plan for the Northern Road Link project is entering its final stage with its fifth series of open houses underway.
Qasim Saddique, project co-lead representing Marten Falls First Nation, was on hand for the first of the open house sessions at the Italian Cultural Centre on Tuesday and said each session aims to share information with a special focus on Indigenous interests.
“Selecting a preferred corridor is a critical step in the assessment process,” said Saddique. “As we near the completion of the corridor alternatives evaluation, we are seeking further input from Indigenous communities and stakeholders. Feedback at this stage is essential and will help inform the final corridor selection and the next phase of the provincial environmental assessment and federal impact assessment.”
The Northern Road Link project is one of several all-weather road projects that will link the Ring of Fire mining area and remote First Nations to provincial highways. It will run between two of the other proposed projects — the Webequie Supply Road at the north end and the Marten Falls Community Access Road on the south end.
Other upgrades and projects will connect the Marten Falls project to Highway 643 north of Aroland, which feeds to Highway 584 running south through Geraldton to Highway 11.
The Northern Road Link portion will require a crossing of the Attawapiskate River in some of the most remote wilderness along the route. Depending on choices made for route location, the road is expected to be 117 to 164 kilometres long.
“We’ve got an eastern option, a central and a western option after crossing Attawapiskat (River), and going further north we have two alternative ways of connecting to the Ring of Fire as well,” he said. “We’re looking at all of those different options to see how they compare against each other, and to be able to do that, we’ve collected all sorts of baseline data, natural science data, observation of plants and animals and the natural environment.”
He added that the process of going through open houses enables them to end up with the best possible solution at the end of the day.
“In this open house, we’re presenting our analysis and continuing to receive feedback on it and the work that we’ve done through this process,” he said. “We’re seeking feedback on the alternatives that we’ve got at this stage to complete our selection of the preferred corridor.”
Saddique says the open houses provide an opportunity for people to listen to them and better understand how the data that was collected influences decisions.
There were bumps in the road, which has included concerns from the general public and neighbouring First Nations.
“Other challenges are more technical in nature. When you’re out there collecting baseline data within a given year, permitting takes time. That’s a bit of a challenge,” he said. “Then there’s the reality of being in the north, which is a very remote part of Ontario. If you’re weathered out, or have a lot of fog one season or cold weather arrives early, your programs are impacted. That’s a challenge.”
He added that coming up with the engineering solutions that they’re developing for the project is also part of the challenges.
“But we believe we have some really fantastic solutions and ideas at the table,” he said.
Saddique says they are hoping for a decision by the end of summer to get shovels in the ground for the Webequie Supply Road and the Marten Falls Community Access Road as soon as they get the approvals.
“The Northern Road Link is a couple of years behind those two projects. As they continue to progress, we believe we will be done with the environmental assessment and impact assessment on this project, and then hopefully construction can continue in a bit of a seamless manner,” he said. “That’s the project plan at this stage.”
