Highway 69 Four-Laning from North of Highway 559 to North of Woods Road (Project 1)

The Minister of the Environment has designated this project and the environmental assessment will continue under the former Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is undertaking a 102 km capacity expansion initiative along Highway 69 from north of Highway 559 to Murdock River. The 102 km initiative as proposed by MTO consists of five separate project phases, each of which is undergoing a separate federal environmental assessment screening. Collectively, the five federal screenings are assessing the entire 102 km initiative. The screening referred to under this Notice of Commencement relates to Project 1 of the Highway 69 initiative, which includes capacity expansion works from north of Highway 559 to north of Woods Road (approximately 11 km). This undertaking will primarily involve widening along the existing route (two new lanes to twin the existing highway). The scope of project includes all aspects of the development proposal related to the construction, operation and modification of Highway 69 from north of Highway 559 to north of Woods Road. This will include the construction of additional lanes along the existing alignment, the construction of water crossings, new drainage culverts, culvert replacements and wildlife passages, the continuity of snowmobile trails and crossings, construction of a new interchange at Woods Road and a new Woods Road, and construction of a snowmobile crossing north of Dinner Lake. For additional information relating to the screenings of projects 2, 3, 4 and 5 of the Highway 69 initiative, please refer to CEAR numbers 11-01-65415, 11-01-65417, 11-01-65418 and 06-01-22108, respectively. MTO is anticipating that the phases will be constructed in the following sequence: Project 5, Project 4, Project 1, Project 2, Project 3. Since planning for each phase is advancing independently, there may be changes to the construction sequence in the future.