The Generations Events Centre in Nipawin was filled to the back with spectators for the public meeting regarding the Tote Road corridor. (Aaron Schulze/northeastNOW Staff)

By Aaron Schulze

Tote Road Corridor

Lobby group expects Tote Road corridor to be upgraded by 2021

Apr 10, 2019 | 6:51 PM

Expected market growth and increased transportation are two positives noted from those pushing for upgrades to the Tote Road corridor.

Several people attended an open public meeting on the subject hosted by the Nipawin and District Chamber of Commerce at the Generations Events Centre Monday.

The Tote Road corridor, also known as Highway 55 and 9, between Nipawin and The Pas, Man., is part of the only northern highway system linking Alberta east to the Port of Churchill in Manitoba.

Leonard Gluska, president of Gateway Keewatin Corridor Inc., said the Tote Road Corridor is currently in substandard condition.

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“It’s gravel, rough. [It’s] not up to standard, taking full truck loads of whatever product,” Gluska said, “It increases the greenhouse gases and reduces the economic feasibility of moving things that way.”

Originally designed in the 1950s, the corridor was meant to haul supplies to camps, although lobby groups claim it needs to be rebuilt for safety and standards in a global economy.

Gluska said the Port of Churchill expects to soon have a future full-service port which he said will require a more upgraded corridor.

“The area is poised to really grow,” he said. “With the new owners, global warming, and the expanded shipping season, this is a no-brainer. This is the northern corridor that equals or surpasses some of the southern corridors in terms of what’s coming as the new economic frontier that we have here.

“Grain is natural to move from this area to Churchill because land transportation is way more expensive than ocean transportation. The idea is getting it to the closest port that you can.”

Gluska didn’t have specific numbers, although his ‘in the ball park figure’ on what it would cost to upgrade the Tote Road corridor would be nearly $1 million per kilometre – which would be nearly $45 million on the Manitoba side and $70 to $90 million on the Saskatchewan side.

Gluska said there have been meetings between Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments on the Gateway Keewatin Corridor on a regular basis since 2006. Gluska said they’ve been working with the Manitoba provincial government and letting them go through initial growing pains as the Progressive Conservatives took office in 2016.

Gluska said the Tote Road corridor has had two to three new bridges built over the last year and the Saskatchewan government is currently working on a seventh on their side of the border.

Gluska expects the corridor to be up to standard by 2021, which means it needs to be dust-free and able to withstand 62,500 kg of trucking weight.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow