Ahead of the snap Ontario election expected to be called this week, the province announced $20 million in “key upgrades” for Municipal Road/Highway 67 on Friday.
Minister of Transportation Prabmeet Sarkaria was in Iroquois Falls on Jan. 24 for the announcement at the Jus Jordan Arena and Sports Complex – though the full project details and when the work will be done are not known yet, the news release said those will be decided with local stakeholders.
Municipal Road/Highway 67 is a 22-kilometre stretch that connects Highway 11 in Iroquois Falls to Highway 101 in Timmins.
In 2024, the City of Timmins estimated it would cost about $1 million per kilometre to fix.
It was known as Highway 67 until 1997 when the Conservative government of the time downloaded it to the municipalities making Timmins responsible for about 10 kilometres of the roadway and Iroquois Falls responsible for the other 12.
Both municipalities have been lobbying the province to take back responsibility for the highway – however, uploading the road back to the province was not mentioned as part of the announcement.
“The announcement underscored the importance of provincial and local collaboration in addressing critical infrastructure needs and supporting the community’s growth,” said the Town of Iroquois Falls in the release.
“Improvements to Municipal Road, a vital transportation corridor, will strengthen links between Iroquois Falls and surrounding communities, ensuring the town’s economic and social connections.”
There are cottages and year-round homeowners in the area along with large forest, mining and construction trucks that often travel the road – in recent years the town said drivers are often dodging potholes on the roadway.
The funding comes as Premier Doug Ford confirmed he’s calling an early election, with the writ dropping on Jan. 29.
Iroquois Falls Mayor Tory Delaurier is the Progressive Conservative candidate for Timiskaming-Cochrane riding.
During the lead-up to the 2022 Ontario election, the conservatives made similar multi-million dollar commitments regarding the Connecting Link in Timmins. At that time Timmins Mayor George Pirie was running for the conservatives. Pirie went on to the election turning that riding ‘blue’ for the first time in decades.
