The biggest concern area residents have about Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) dam repair project near Connaught is the condition of the local roads.
OPG hosted a public meeting May 11 in the Connaught Community Centre. At a previous session, residents aired concerns with the route chosen to deliver cement to the Frederick House Lake dam site.
OPG came back with different route, favoured by residents at the previous meeting, even though it is a longer drive.
Sue Rapin, Deputy Project Manager for OPG, explained the importance of the work to about two dozen residents.
“It’s a concrete control dam. This facility was built in the 1930s,” she said. “This is the first major program to rehabilitate this project since the 1930s, so it’s time and it needs to be done.
“We’re going to refurbish the dam an extend its life another 50 years and bring it up to the dam safety requirements of today. It’s basically concrete repair.
“We’re planning to construct starting June 2023, but it will more July before everything starts moving at site, to 2025 — so, it’s a couple of years. We’re not changing the levels and flows of the water.”
Previously, OPG had planned to bring the cement trucks off Highway 101 via Carrigan Road. Following public feedback from their first public session, OPG changed the route to Municipal Road (former Highway 67).
Carrigan is a dirt road currently being used by residents as a detour since the Frederick House Lake Road junction from Highway 101 was closed to northbound traffic. The detour is due to closure of the bridge over the Porcupine River.
“We know that there are concerns about the roads. We heard you at the last open house,” she said. “We know people are concerned with the level of traffic created around this construction project. The big concern was what roads we’re going to be using. We have made an adjustment to the roads we are planning to use for this project and it’s at a cost to OPG.
“We’re going to be using the paved roads, so we’re going to be avoiding the non-paved roads. We’re going to be using Highway 67, then jogging down Fredrick House Lake Road for about four kilometres before getting on the other roads (to the dam).”
Overall, residents can expect on average a two-per cent increase in traffic on the route. Workers will be bused on site from a collection point on Highway 101 to limit traffic to and from the site.
Residents understand the need for the work to be done and want to see the dam repaired. Concerns remain, however, that the roads are in such brutal shape that they will become even more unsafe with the increased traffic.
One woman explained that Municipal Road is “basically a one-lane highway, not two lanes” because people try to drive in the centre as much as possible to avoid potholes and the crumbling road edge.
City of Timmins Ward 4 Councillor John Curley attended the meeting. He explained the city has never had the funds to maintain Municipal Road properly since it, as Highway 67, was downloaded in the 1990s under the Mike Harris government.
“Highway 67, most people will remember, was downloaded to the city,” Curley said. “The bridge had to get fixed. We’ve not received any real funding for 67. Under the previous government, we were getting about $3 million for our connecting link for the whole city, basically Algonquin, so there was never enough money to put anywhere. Now, under Ford, we’ve got $74 million (over eight years for Algonquin), so hopefully more will keep coming.
“With additional funding, we can start maintaining 67, but my push is for them to take Municipal Road — Highway 67 — back. Because Iroquois Falls, which owns part of 67, cannot afford anything. And right now, we don’t have any money to put into it.
“I hear what the residents are saying. They’re hugging the yellow line if not going over the yellow line.”
He agreed with residents who opposed additional traffic on Carrigan Road.
“Carrigan Road was never made for heavy traffic,” he said. “The right move is to move it to Highway 67.”
Curley suggested it would be easier to bring cement to the site from Iroquois Falls rather than Timmins.
“Right now, they are going to haul up Highway 655, with all that diverted truck traffic (from Algonquin reconstruction) … all the way down to 67,” he said. “They (OPG) say it is a two-hour window (from getting cement into the trucks) to pour. It’s going to be really tricky for them.
“It would be better to schedule the pours early morning or late at night.”
