Work is underway to set up a new, state-of-the-art restroom facility beside Route 148 near the Marchand covered bridge, across from the George Bryson Cultural House in Mansfield.

This public sanitary installation is described by its manufacturer as “intelligent, self-cleaning and vandal-proof.” Urben Blu, a Quebec company, has installed its products at locations in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and even Colorado.

The self-contained unit will be open year-round, thanks to the heated concrete slab on which it is built and will be inaugurated and fully operational later this fall.

This facility is one component of a larger outdoor rest area that will feature picnic tables, a one hundred-metre illuminated trail with an art display space along the Coulonge River, an electric car charging station and an exercise facility where travellers can stretch. There are even plans to add a landing site for kayakers and canoeists at some point.

A sketch by a local artist, AimPée, was used in the design of the rest area, which will be part of an ensemble with nearby tourist destinations Pont Félix-Gabriel-Marchand and the Maison Georges-Bryson.

The project’s cost of approximately $330,000 was raised through contributions from the MRC Pontiac, Tourisme Outaouais, Caisse Populaire Desjardins du Pontiac and the Municipality of Mansfield.

The initiative enables the municipalities of Mansfield and Fort Coulonge to meet the accreditation requirements for inclusion in the Quebec network known as Village-Relais, a program to improve road safety by providing well-equipped, safe rest areas for travellers, helping to reduce driver fatigue and lower the risk of accidents.

At the same time, by making it possible for people to stop safely, the Village-Relais program provides a place to promote the region’s attractions and encourages the development of tourism.

André Fortin, MNA for Pontiac, extended congratulations via social media to Fort Coulonge and Mansfield for their collaboration and sees this recognition as an economic tool as well as an improvement to road safety.

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