The Ministry of Highways anticipates a temporary crossing on 903 to be open next week (Highway Hotline/Facebook)

By Brent Bosker/CKOM

The Long Road Home

Cole Bay residents eager to have main access road back as repairs continue on Hwy 903

Sep 6, 2019 | 9:10 AM

For over a month, the community of Cole Bay has been without its main access road to the rest of the province.

Highway 903, between the hamlet and Meadow Lake, has been impassable since late July when heavy rain caused a section to collapse.

Residents like Alexander MacLean said not having the highway has meant longer and costlier trips to Meadow Lake for shopping and medical appointments.

MacLean said the detour onto Highway 155 adds more than two hours to a round trip.

“It really is a big deal. It makes it more difficult to get access to specialists who typically would visit our school from Saskatoon,” MacLean said.

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The teacher said it has taken a tole on all aspects of life in the community, which is located on Canoe Lake, 120 kilometres north of Meadow Lake.

“If you are unemployed, a single parent or have a lower-paying job, I can’t imagine having enough money,” MacLean said. “It’s not just a road, it’s access. Access in the north is everything.”

The Ministry of Highways said a temporary crossing is expected to be open by the middle of the month.

“We certainly empathize with people who use this highway. We initially thought it would open this week, but draining the site has been more difficult than anticipated so we expect to have it open by the end of next week, ” ministry spokesperson David Horth said.

The temporary patch will allow light vehicles to pass until the washout is repaired.

Horth said the new design will have four culverts instead of one. He said the ministry is in the process of tendering the project and hopes to see it completed before freeze up.

Meanwhile, MacLean said the community would like to see the road one day paved, but Horth said that isn’t being considered.

In late August, Athabasca MLA Buckley Belanger visited the site and believes the current repair plans are not enough and a bridge is needed.

“It’s an amazing space that needs to be filled in and I don’t think culverts and backfills will do it,” Belanger told meadowlakeNOW at the time. “Looking at it from the practical person’s perspective, I just can’t see how culverts are going to fill that gap. From my very limited perspective, I think a bridge is necessary.”