The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Premier Greg Selinger paid a visit to Manto Sipi Cree Nation at Gods River recently to get a first-hand look at progress on an all-weather road network that aims to connect remote communities on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. Selinger said new and temporary bridges being constructed in preparation for future work on the all-season roads would enable the East Side Road Authority (ESRA) to extend future winter road seasons by as long as two weeks in some areas and also noted that the all-weather road project was creating jobs and training opportunities. 'Every region of this province can prosper when we work together to invest in people and foster new opportunities,' said Selinger in a news release following his Feb. 24 visit. Work is underway to install new bridges to Island Lake region communities that will help extend the winter road season by eliminating ice crossings. The first bridge, which will cross the Mainland River, is scheduled to be in place for next year's winter road season, while the second bridge, which will be located at Feather Rapids on the Stevenson River, will be delivered to the site this winter. The ESRA is also working with Red Sucker Lake First Nation on the installation of a bridge over the Red Sucker River. 'Winter roads in our region are no longer reliable,' Manto Sipi Cree Nation Chief Michael Yellowback said in the news release. 'Our First Nation is pleased to work with the province to extend the winter road season immediately as we train and hire local residents who will eventually build and maintain permanent roads.' Yellowback added that 12 members of the First Nation had graduated from introductory construction training course earlier in February. Work on the southern portion of the permanent road network already completed includes a new bridge over the Wanipigow River and a seven-kilometre section of the road to Berens River between kilometre 48 and kilometre 55. New bridges are currently being built over the Loon and Longbody creeks and a five-kilometre section (from kilometre 88 to kilometre 93) of the permanent road to Bloodvein First Nation is under construction. Working together The province, the federal government and Bloodvein First Nation are also working together on a pilot project to build a 2.5-kilometre access road to connect the First Nation to the proposed permanent road network. 'As the project proceeds, the federal government has an opportunity to build on its initial commitment to cost share the access road to Bloodvein,' said Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson, the cabinet member responsible for the ESRA. 'This is a good start but a much more significant commitment from Canada is required to complete the permanent road network in a reasonable time frame.' In the area the permanent road network will serve, Robinson noted, almost 97 per cent of inhabitants are First Nations under direct federal jurisdiction. He also said permanent roads would eliminate the need to airlift supplies in at great cost when winter roads fail, an increasingly common occurrence in recent years. The ESRA completed a route selection study in 2010 that recommended building two main arteries, one each for the southern and northern communities in the region east of Lake Winnipeg. More southerly communities, including Berens River, will be connected to Provincial Road 304 at Hollow Water, while Manto Sipi and the Island Lake communities will be connected through Provincial Road 373 at Norway House. Both routes will run along existing winter road routes as much as possible. _ÊIan Graham, Thompson Citizen
