Route 138 and salmon: redo the route would slow the work, fear elected officials

The elected officials of the North Shore fear that a revision of the project to extend route 138 due to the presence of a salmon river slows down the work in progress. This month, a local outfitting challenged the Minister of the Environment so that he saw the current layout.

After the Atlantic Salmon Federation of Canada, it is the turn of the Mécatina outfit, of the municipality of Gros Mécatina, to claim a new route.

In a letter sent to the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, on January 14, the law firm Sodavex, which represents this outfit, asked him to review the authorization granted to the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility for Construction of a section of road which will connect the isolated communities of head-to-flank and the snore.

The construction of a steel bridge over the Gros Mécatina river is at the heart of the concerns of the outfit. According to it, the construction of the road and a new bridge would lead to Environmental damage irreversible to the virgin ecosystem of the big mecatina And with Atlantic salmon, we can read in the letter.

The journey that was retained in 2013 [lorsque le MTMD a analysé les différentes options de tracé]whoever has been the subject of authorization before the Ministry of the Environment, provides for the passage on the river [Gros Mécatina] which, at this location, is very narrowexplains lawyer Christine Duchaine.

The construction of a bridge during the reproduction period of the salmon could shrink the river, which is a obligatory passage For the salmon, judge the lawyer for the Sodavex cabinet.

The cabinet also argues that the Ministry of the Environment has authorized the construction of road infrastructure based on analyzes carried out by the MTMD In 2013. However, according to Sodavex, these analyzes are no longer up to date due to the climate change and the vulnerability of salmon populations.

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Analysis to choose from the four options [de tracé]if it was done today, we think that the result would be different.

The applicants offer the ministry to choose another route option which would extend the 900 -meter road and which would pass south of the narrower sector of the river.

The point of view of the elected officials of the North Shore

For her part, the director general of the MRC From the Gulf-du-Saint-Laurent, Karine Monger, did not want to grant an interview, but she thinks that a new revision of the route risks slowing down the work, expected for a very long time.

It indicates that the position of the elected officials remains that stated in a press release published on December 5.

Behind each meager advance in the regional transport file are years of mobilization of elected officials and citizens to convince the governments of the merits to offer basic services to the populationcan be read in the press release.

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The MRC chain by deploring Critics of certain groups that arise as environmental protectors, [ce qui] translate[t] poor knowledge of the territory or an indifference to the North-Côteiers issues.

According to elected officials, given that citizens are forced to use air and sea transport to move, building a road would allow to improve the energy efficiency of remote regions supply In addition to opening up the region and offering some 5,000 residents of basic road infrastructure.

We all cherish our North-Côtier territory […]but as precious as the virginity of its rivers can be, it has no value if there are no more surrounding communities to admire them. […] The construction of basic infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, is an essential condition for ensuring the resilience of our territory.

In this same press release, the MRC said he feared that the objections expressed about the current route reflect a vision Urbano-centurist that Put the current territories of distant regions under a glass bell,, to the detriment of local populations.

Without appointing them, the press release also suggests that organisations who expressed these objections are guided by pecuniary interests and ultimately has the mission of protecting a single resource exploited by their members.

Questioned about the potential impact of the construction of a bridge on the fishing activities of the Mécatina outfit, Christine Duchaine argues that she has never had discussions on this subject with the owner of the outfit, Nancy Bobbit . The discussions we have is really the impact on the river, the quality of the water, the temperature […]she adds.

She claims that the Mécatina outfit is not opposed to the project to extend Route 138 but that it offers an improved route. She judges that the new layout, which would avoid the critical sector, would be a solution facile which would have no impact on the project, on its feasibility or on the schedule of the works.

The Ministry of the Environment does not flinch

Questioned about the letter sent by the outfit, the cabinet of the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, indicates in writing that he analyzed the impacts of the project.

He adds that the measures presented by the promoter, the MTMDwere considered satisfactory to ensure the protection of the Atlantic salmon and the wetlands, in particular.

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For its part, the cabinet of Kateri Champagne Jourdain, Minister of Employment and responsible for the North Shore, abounds in this direction by indicating that the extension of Route 138 is An important project for our region.

In its press release, the MRC said he renewed his confidence in government experts To determine the best possible road routes.

The total cost of the two sections that would be made, between Kegaska and the Roman as well as between the head-beast and the snuffer, is estimated at $ 695.5 million. According to an update of the project in September 2023, the start of the construction of the section between Tête-la-Baleine and the snore was scheduled between 2023 and 2024.