Cottagers leery of road plan

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This article was published 24/07/2010 (5563 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some Lake of the Woods cottagers are worried about the future of their peaceful retreat because one of the proposed twinning paths for Highway 17 could put the busy route through their backyards.

Consultants for the government of Ontario are weighing different twinning options for the stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway between Kenora and Rush Bay Road.

Cottagers in the Clearwater Bay area hope the new route will run north of the existing highway, but fear a southern route, closer to the water, could be the province’s top choice.

A southern route could take the highway within roughly 30 metres of the lake in the area of Deception Bay within Clearwater Bay, said Lake of the Woods District Property Owners Association president Don Cameron.

That would encroach on cottages and add to noise pollution, he said. Residents are concerned about possible land expropriation, as well as the possibility that the twinned highway will run along an old stretch of highway that borders a small riverbed feeding into the lake.

"There are environmental concerns there, for sure," Cameron said.

There are also complaints a southern route would mean construction on land currently under a restricted area order, which limits development to protect trout habitat. However, Ministry of Transportation spokeswoman Emna Dhahak indicated in an email to the Free Press that all routes under consideration would go through the restricted area.

Once environmental assessment approvals are in and funding established, the construction project would have to include mitigation to address environmental impacts, she added.

Officials representing the transportation ministry will meet with residents today at the Clearwater Bay firehall, with presentations by planners at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., Cameron said.

The transportation ministry has received numerous comments from stakeholders about route alternatives in the Deception Bay and Clearwater Bay area, Dhahak wrote, and all input is being considered. The ministry has identified a short list of options, but not a preferred route, she said.

The Lake of the Woods Property Owners Association has 4,000 members, and Cameron estimates there are about 500 cottages in the area of concern. He said residents are happy about the highway twinning, but hope the government listens to their feedback.

"I’m optimistic," said Cameron. "I do see that the government does have some difficult decisions, but they do know that the cottagers are upset."

A final route decision should be made by this fall, according to an informational website about the twinning.

Plans to twin the busy and often dangerous stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway between Manitoba and Ontario were announced in 2008. It is one of a few parts of the national highway that is not a four-lane divided road.

 

lindsey.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca