INDUSTRIAL ROAD CONCERNS: Update
MANITOUWADGE, ON – June 12th, OntarioNewsNorth.com published a letter from residents concerned with recent signage erected regarding the discontinuation of maintenance of Industrial Road which connects Manitouwadge to the communities of Hillsport (VIA Rail stop), Caramat and the rest of the Municipality of Greenstone (CLICK HERE to open June 12th article in a new window). Industrial Road is also the main access road to tourist hot spots like Manitou and High Falls as well as the connection for some local trappers to their harvesting areas, to favourite lakes of some local anglers, and the road to the local cemetary and landfill site (the latter had to be closed temporarily this spring when the road was washed out and in too bad a condition for regular vehicular traffic).
UPDATE
Thank you to Bruce Luby, co-author of the original letter (CLICK HERE) regarding Industrial Road, for keeping OntarioNewsNorth.com and its readers informed as to the progress of this issue…
The following letters are correspondence between Mr. Luby (co-author of original letter of concern RE: Industrial Road closure) and the MNR Wawa District and Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha.
OntarioNewsNorth.com continues to wait for a response from Mr. Mantha regarding requests for an interview regarding this subject.
~~ FIRST RESPONSE Received by Mr. Luby, from MPP Michael Mantha’s Office, June 4th ~~
Tue, 4 Jun 2013 18:52
Good afternoon Mr. Luby,
Thank you for contacting the office of MPP Michael Mantha.
An enquiry has been submitted to the ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Natural Resources on your behalf. I will keep you informed of any updates I receive regarding Industrial road (Highway 11). I hope this is satisfactory.
Sincerely,
Cindy Haddow
Constituency Assistant/Assistante de circonscription
Office of Michael Mantha MPP/ député
Algoma-Manitoulin
~Mr. Luby responds June 9th~~
Sent: June 9, 2013 4:04 PM
To: Mantha – CO, Michael
Subject: Your inquiry to the MNR about the Industrial Road.
Perhaps the MNR should have invited discussion from all interested parties about the matter before they made a uni lateral decision of this magnitude. The declaration on their part to cease the upkeep of the road will indeed render the road impassable thus CLOSED.
If your office is limited in power or negate to resolve the matter effectively the very least it can do is direct and advise constituents of other avenues to pursue!
Sincerely
Bruce Luby
~~ 2nd RESPONSE Received by Mr. Luby, from MPP Michael Mantha’s Office, June 21st ~~
From: MMantha-CO@ndp.on.ca
Sent: Friday, June 21, 2013 11:15 AMTo: Bruce LubySubject: RE: Inquiry to the MNR about the Industrial Road.Good morning Mr. Luby,
I discussed the concerns in your response regarding Industrial Road with Mr. Mantha.
He has directed me to further enquire with the Ministry of Natural Resources for additional details re: the cooperative maintenance agreement. Such as, who could initiate this agreement and what government agency would have to participate in the process (MNR/MTO). We are also looking into what other options regarding this matter.
I will keep you informed with any updates and information I receive. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Cindy Haddow
Constituency Assistant/Assistante de circonscription
Office of Michael Mantha MPP/ député
Algoma-Manitoulin
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~1st Response Mr. Luby receives from Wawa District MNR office~
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FROM EDITOR: It begs to question whether Mr. May did any research regarding Industrial Road or if he has ever visited Manitouwadge personally as if he had done either I strongly doubt he would feel comfortable suggesting people start going out into the bush trying to navigate the endless maze of logging roads which lead away from our town (I certainly DO NOT recommend anyone try this even if equipped with a GPS, UNLESS perhaps accompanied, or escorted by, someone who works in the bush or has a great deal of experience driving the afforementioned “alternate routes” as they are referred to by Mr. May.
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~Response from Mr.Luby which has been sent to Wawa District MNR Representative Bill May (below)~
June 23/2013
To: Mr. Bill May
Ministry of Natural Resources
Wawa District
PO Box 1160, 48 Mission Rd, Wawa ON P0S 1K0
Re: Industrial Road
The Industrial Road will most certainly become unusable, i.e. CLOSED, since maintenance has ceased on the road. There are already four potential areas on the road that require some maintenance to prevent a washout.
The fact that forest industry work is minimal at the present time should not diminish all the revenues collected by the ministry over the past 50 years of use. The road has been used to develop many tourist locations in the area and some foresight should have been given to maintaining the road for other uses and ministries.
The alternative access routes you mention in your letter are hardly a viable option as they are also use at your own risk designated routes and certainly no other routes connects the two highways as well as the Industrial road.
The development of a cooperative maintenance agreement should not be a public responsibility. That should be the responsibility of the ministries of Natural Resources, Tourism, Transportation and Northern Development and Mines. The public is never consulted when millions of dollars are collected from forestry yet it becomes a public problem when none of the monies collected was secured for maintenance.
At the present time Northwestern Ontario is struggling to advance the current infrastructure to accommodate potential growth in the mining sector yet we neglect to secure the care of the existing infrastructure such as the industrial road.
Sincerely
Bruce Luby
Box 1025, Manitouwadge, ON P0T 2C0
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It is Mr. Luby’s hope (and the hope of OntarioNewsNorth.com) that other residents will become involved and loby their government representatives to take action in regards to the loss of the Industrial Road which is a life-line connecting Manitouwadge to a wide variety of necessities including VIA Rail Passenger service in Hillsport, Municipality of Greenstone (and connecting it to Manitouwadge), the Manitouwadge Landfill, Manitouwadge Municipal Cemetary, and of course of great importance is the fact that the Industrial Road has, until now, offered a much needed SECOND EXIT ROUTE for residents should the 614 been closed for any reason (weather, fire, construction, ect). We strongly encourage readers to weigh in on this subject and have your voices heard by commenting below, this will offer those government representatives who are interested in helping, a quick link to the opinions of all those concerned (but only if you speak up and leave your comments below).
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM Mr. Luby: During the weekend of June 21st – 23rd, Mr. Luby’s partner, Eva O’Keefe, was on business in Thunder Bay and had the opportunity to bring concerns RE: Industrial Road Closure to Minister of Northern Development and Mines, MPP Michael Gravelle’s attention as well. She felt that Mr. Gravelle seemed to share concern for this issue
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