Northwest winter road season 'successful' despite climate challenges, some First Nations say

Some First Nation leaders and people who work on the winter ice roads in northwestern Ontario say the season was a good one this year, despite climate change gradually eating away at its length.

Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug Chief Donny Morris told CBC he got nearly all of what he'd hoped to transport into the community this year, including nine new homes and two trailers.

"I would say we're very happy. We had a successful winter," said Morris, who's community is served by the Asheweig winter road.

"I'd like to really acknowledge all the truck drivers that provide that service to the communities.  It means a lot. I don't think I ever thank them publicly, but I'd like to acknowledge each and every one of them that drove into our communities for doing a good job."

Roy Moonias, a project coordinator for Neskantaga First Nation, which maintains the common portion of the Matawa 808 winter road network, also called the season "a good one." 

Roads closing on the Easter weekend

"We had our fuel supply in, our building materials; contractors came in with their heavy equipment." he said. "So there was a lot of activities happening on winter roads."

Fly-in First Nation communities across northern Ontario rely on the winter road network to truck in items that would be costly or nearly impossible to transport by plane.

Some communities race to transport an entire year's supply of diesel on the roads before they thaw out in the spring.

The Asheweig Road, which connects KI,  Kingfisher Lake, Wunnumin Lake, Kasabonika Lake, Wawakapawin and Wapakeka to Highway 808 north of Pickle Lake, was scheduled to close Friday night.

The road from Kenora to Windigo Island and Northwest Angle #38 closed before Wednesday's winter storm due to anticipated poor conditions and the forecasted warm weather to follow. 

The Matawa 808 winter road network, which runs from Highway 808 to Neskantaga, Eabametoong, Webequie and Nibinamik was set to close on Saturday.

People still use the Matawa road after it's officially closed, said Moonias. 

But they do so at their own risk.

Some people are planning to head to Pickle Lake or even Winnipeg on the weekend, he said.

"The winter road is in really good condition," he said. "I haven't seen any snow thaw yet. That's a good sign."

The weather cooperated with the road building efforts this year, Morris said, providing enough snow and enough cold nights to get the ice to the necessary thickness to support the weight of the tractor trailers packed with supplies. 

The head road constructor for the Kenora-Windigo road, said the weather this year was cold enough to make enough ice but not so cold as to risk the machinery.

'It seems like it's getting shorter and shorter, and it's concerning for us'

"When we start hitting minus 40, I won't take the trucks out because the cutting edges will actually shatter," Leonard Boucha explained, referring to the sharp edge of a snow plow.

Marten Falls Chief Bruce Achneepineskum said conditions on the 135-kilometre road to his community were good toward the end of the season, but the road didn't open until around Feb. 7 – a similar opening date to last year – due to warm weather.

It was only open for around six weeks.

"It seems like it's getting shorter and shorter, and it's concerning for us," Achneepineskum said.

The community would typically begin building the road in December, but once again this year, they were forced to wait until January.

Much of the road is built on muskeg, which doesn't freeze deeply enough until temperatures hit minus 25 or minus 30, Achneepineskum explained.

The First Nation was able to truck in about 20 loads of supplies, including a new youth centre and building materials, which would cost twice as much to ship by air, he said.

"We would have liked to get more building materials, but I think we got basically the amount of the materials that we needed," he said.  "But we could have used another two weeks."

Marten Falls is a proponent of a proposed all-weather road, which would pass through the community en route to the mineral rich region known as the Ring of Fire.

But Achneepineskum said any such road is several years away, so in the meantime, he'd like to have the winter road assessed to see if it's possible to move it off the muskeg that makes up the majority of the route.

Like other road-builders in the region, Marten Falls has begun installing permanent infrastructure, such as Lessard bridges over crossings. But permanent infrastructure does not help address the problem of muskeg failing to freeze. 

For that, Achneepineskum said, they would have to move the road to higher ground.

The common section of the Matawa road network currently has four Lessard bridges on it, Moonias said, and individual communities have started applying for funding to add them to their branches of the road.

Matawa environmental technologist Lindsey Jupp is working with two communities to secure such infrastructure, she said.

However, installing Lessard bridges comes with its own challenges, Moonias said.

Notably, they require large amounts of high-quality gravel and rock to stabilize them – something the communities find hard to source. 

"It's hard to look for eskers during the wintertime," he said.

One of the Lessard bridges on the common road has already shifted due to poor quality gravel, and the road crew had to build a new crossing this year to bypass it. 

Achneepineskum said people need to consider how climate change is affecting northern communities, and how everyone might play a role.

"Does it come from industry alone, or is it the thousands of cars that traverse the cities and towns every day?" he asked.