Quebec’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests has determined a bridge will be necessary to restore access past kilometre 54 of Jim’s Lake Rd. (ch. du Bois-Franc), where a washout rendered the road impassable in April.
The washout, which occurred the week of Apr. 22, wiped out the culvert and created a cut in the road about 10 metres deep and 20 metres wide. Users have since been forced to use detours to access upper sections of the road, while the MRC Pontiac works on a more permanent fix. Jim’s Lake Rd. provides access to outfitters, seasonal properties and remote areas in the Pontiac’s Territoire non-organisé (TNO).
According to the MRC Pontiac’s territory director Jason Durand, a recent site visit from the ministry determined that a bridge will be needed to restore access past km 54, as the previous culvert no longer meets environmental standards.
Bridge work cannot begin until provincial funding is secured. Bryson Lake Lodge Outfitters will act as the project’s official proponent after losing revenue because of the washout. Durand said the outfitter will work with the Fédération des pourvoiries du Québec (FPQ) in hopes of speeding up the provincial approval process.
The MRC regularly applies for infrastructure funding in the TNO. Durand estimates that the MRC receives around $200,000 a year for projects in the TNO, but added that this project is a particularly large one that the MRC could not afford by itself. He said the province usually pays for up to 90 per cent of the cost of the project, but could pay less.
At last week’s MRC council of mayors meeting, mayors passed two resolutions regarding the washout: first, to announce a maximum contribution of $80,000 toward the bridge project, and secondly to push the province toward swift action in this matter.
Durand said there were many other washouts in the Outaouais region this spring, and only so much funding available for these projects. He said limiting the contribution to $80,000 would leave room in the budget for other emergency repairs later this summer.
“There’s going to be a lot of money the government will have to chip in to get those bridges or culverts [repaired],” Durand said.
Laurel LeBrun, co-owner of Pourvoirie du Domaine du Lac Bryson, said over the years the lodge has seen its fair share of road washouts, and has been a proponent for many projects, but that this is among the larger projects they have attempted to secure.
She said the closure has put pressure on the business and its staff as they try to recover from lost revenue at the start of the season.
“A lot of people are looking at you and depending on you for work, for their vacation, for information on road access,” she said.
“It’s not just our own clients and our own family and our own employees, but we feel like there are a lot of people from the outside looking at us for answers, especially when we can’t give an answer,” she said.
Durand said no timeline has been established for completion of the bridge. Results from the call for tenders are expected May 29, after which Bryson Lake Lodge can move ahead with its provincial funding application alongside the FPQ.
In the meantime, the detour around km 54 remains accessible through chemin Schyan, where maintenance work was recently completed. Durand said once road conditions improve after the spring flood, graders will be deployed across the road network to improve driving conditions.
