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Highway 17 West Twinning Set To Begin

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It’s been 12 years in the making.

Highway 17 west of Kenora will finally be twinned after the provincial government signed two agreements with local first nations on Friday.

Transportation Minister Caroline Mulroney says work could begin as early as December.

“We’re going to be going to the tendering process to do some clearing work and some work on the raw materials to get the highway built,” says Mulroney.

“The plan is still to go ahead with three phases. We’re talking today about Stage 1 and we look forward to having shovels in the ground very soon on Stage 1. People have been waiting a very long time for that.”

Stage 1 is six kilometers long and includes the section from the Ontario/Manitoba border to the turn-off to Shoal Lake #39.

Fred Green is a spokesperson for Shoal Lake #39 and calls this a historic occasion, but it hasn’t been easy.

“I can assure you that it’s not been easy to agree to come to something like this because historically that has not been the relationship, but we’ve built it.”

Actual construction of the new highway won’t begin until spring of 2022.

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Rickford Says COVID-19 Not Slowing Down Highway Twinning

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Lots of changes have come during 2020, but the twinning of Highway 17 is still on track.

That is according to the Northern Development and Mines Minister Greg Rickford.

Rickford says they are still following the proper protocols during the pandemic and ensuring everything is being done safely and with involvement from area Indigenous communities.

He also says construction of twinning the highway between Kenora and the Manitoba boundary is still expected in the late summer.

Rickford adds the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Four Winds Group in February was one of the biggest steps in getting the project moving.