I was driving through northern Ontario. Some construction is up ahead, and the flagman (actually a woman) is signalling me to stop. So I do.
“Holy s*it,” says the woman. “You’ve got a flat.”
Turned out, I did. The construction crew directed me to an area where I could safely change the tire (which I did), but I found that the spare needed air. It wasn’t totally flat, but it wasn’t quite all there either.
The crew chief came to the rescue. “Our mechanic has a compressor. I’ll get him to pull his van up and give you some air.” And it happened. And I was able to keep on my way–good thing, since it was a rather remote area, far from gas stations and air pumps. The auto club would have responded, but it would have been a few hours. With the mechanic and his compressor, it was a few minutes.
I offered to give the crew chief enough to buy the crew coffee, but he wouldn’t hear of it. “No, thanks. We’re glad to help,” he said.
So. Big thanks to the crew working on the bridge embankment on Highway 17 between Terrace Bay and Marathon, Ontario. I don’t know your names (except the the young lady who first noticed my flat was “Cindy,” according to the crew chief), but you sure have my thanks. Work safely, and I’ll wave when I head back in a week or two. Thanks again!
The part of the west-bound that got washed out completely is going to take longer. Both lanes washed out, for about the length of a football field. Here’s a link to a video on Youtube shortly after the washout started: Maple Creek flood 2010 Trans Canada Highway disappears.
Funnily enough, I would kind of expect people to act like that - why wouldn’t they try to help if they could?
So, the section of the #1 highway that got washed away - that wasn’t in the stretch that finally got twinned, was it? Is this God’s way of saying that we’re not supposed to have a decent highway in that part of the world?
(For Murkins that might not know this, the #1 is Canada’s premier highway, also known as the TransCanada highway. It’s a BIG deal to lose part of it.)
In the videos, it certainly looks like a divided highway…
Note for the clarification of foreigners:
The Trans-Canada Highway is only Highway 1 in the west. In Ontario and eastward, it divides into a skein of routes, occupying various highways with different numbers.
It’s a big deal out west. As soon as you hit the Ontario border it shrinks to a two-lane, potholed mess. Back in 2006 the bridge at Nipigon was under construction – this is the only road bridge connecting eastern and western Canada – and the road was reduced to one lane. There was a guy with a ‘stop/slow’ sign. And it wasn’t a big inconvenience.
If the Feds are willing to pony up the tens of billions it would take to to twin 1500 km of highway through northwestern Ontario and all the way to Sudbury, I’m sure Ontario would be happy to build it. Right now, the freeways are creeping northward and westward from Ottawa and Toronto, but they haven’t even got to North Bay or Sudbury yet…
There are a couple of stretches of Highway 69 that are currently in the process of being four-laned; an 8 km stretch between Estaire (just south of Sudbury) and Highway 637 (goes to Killarney), a 4 km stretch (realigning the 69/637 intersection) and the Nobel bypass, a 17 km stretch that goes north from where the four-laning currently ends to just North of Highway 559 (goes to Killbear Park).
Four-laning Highway 17 in and around North Bay right now looks like a logistical nightmare. 17 through North Bay is (kinda, sorta) an expressway right now, only intersecting at major streets.
I wish they’d build a beltway around the south side of Ottawa as well.
Yes, they are twinning Hwy 69 south of Sudbury, and building the 400 north from Parry Sound. But I have no idea how they would double-track Hwy 17 through northern Ontario–at the very least, it would require a lot of explosives.
I did see the washout of Hwy 1 at Maple Creek, Saskatchewan. That’s going to take some time to fix.
Leaffan, let’s say my destination is the GTA. I have business in and around there.
Cat Whisperer, I think it was the 403rd construction site along my route.
No, it’s in the twinned section. The washed-out section in the youtube video is both lanes of the west-bound section. Then when the camera pans over to the rushing water, it’s rushing over the east-bound section. The force of the waterfall washed off one lane from the east-bound section.
Here’s an aerial photo that shows it more clearly, with the waterfall flowing over the east-bound lane.
What we’re basically dealing with is 1500 km of this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, and this. The area is rugged and very thinly populated, outside a few biggish towns and cities, and the traffic volumes may not support a four-lane divided highway. An expensive four-lane divided highway. I’m amazed they StreetViewed the whole thing.
That first link is about fifteen minutes east of me, towards North Bay. The side of the highway where the little smoke shop/gas bar is belongs to the Nipissing 10 native reservation.
Arrived safely at my destination. I took the flat to an auto shop run by my buddy’s mechanic friend. Can’t fix it, is the verdict, the sidewall is shot. Got to get a new tire.
Lucky Break No. 1: Canadian Tire (the closest tire source) has only one single tire of the type I need. But it’s mine if I want it.
Lucky Break No. 2: It’s on sale.
Lucky Break No. 3: My buddy’s mechanic friend will look after the mounting and balancing for next to nothing, “'Cause after all, you’ve gotta drive back to Alberta and just in case, you’ll want a spare; and you want the job done right, and you know Buddy, and he’s a good guy; and I don’t mind doing this for his pal.”
I think that I’ll pay him the pittance and throw in a few cold beers. If I couldn’t go back and take coffee to the construction crew owing to having to get to the GTA by a certain date, then since I’m going to be in the area for a while, I can at least treat the mechanic to a cold beer or two.
