One of three First Nations along Highway 69, north of Parry Sound, hopes to begin discussions with the province on the four-laning of the highway along their territory by late April or early May.
Shawanaga First Nation Chief Wayne Pamajewon said no timeline has been set, but added he hopes to sit at the table with the Ministry of Transportation in the spring.
Shawanaga First Nation is located just north of Parry Sound, along a portion of Highway 69 that has not yet been four-laned.
In late February band members voted to accept nearly $4 million in compensation from the province for the use of Highway 7182, also called Shebeshekong Road, which runs parallel to Highway 69.
The province acquired 30 acres of land that include the secondary highway in the 1930s, and will pay Shawanaga First Nation $3.8 million for 80 years of use, and an additional $120,000 for the land's current value.
“My direction from my people was to deal with the old highway first, then we'll talk about the four-laning,” Pamajewon told Northern Ontario Business. “I'm pretty happy with the way things have been going.”
On March 6, 2015, Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca said the four-laning of Highway 69 might not be completed until as late as 2021, four years behind the original schedule for the project.
“We have done some additional due diligence, (and) we had very strong conversations with some of our partners, including First Nations,” Del Duca said.
“I wanted to come out here today and say that based on that due diligence and those conversations, we're now looking at project completion targets of 2019 through 2021.”
Del Duca said not long ago, he was still confident the project could be completed by 2017, but due to an ongoing federal environmental assessment process, which includes consultations with First Nations along the route, the original timeline had to be pushed back.
Around 50 kilometres have been widened so far, but more than 80 kilometres remain before the project can be completed.
Del Duca said construction crews are currently working along a 20-kilometre stretch that should be completed by the summer of 2016.
Nine kilometres, just north of Alban and Highway 64, is due to be completed in the summer of 2015, and the additional 11 kilometres, south of that point, should be done by 2016, he said.
To meet the requirements of the federal environmental assessment process, the province must also negotiate with Magnetawan First Nation and Henvey Inlet First Nation.
Magnetawan First Nation Chief William Diabo said he prefers not to comment about Highway 69 negotiations with the province at this time.
Northern Ontario Business has not yet heard from Henvey Inlet First Nation Chief Wayne McQuabbie.
