It never came to pass, but almost 50 years ago in Cochrane history, a road from Hwy. 11 to Moosonee was being considered.
A public information and input meeting staged by the provincial transportation ministry drew only eleven Cochrane residents, probably because their town wasn’t a high priority option as the southern end of the road. Kapuskasing and Smooth Rock Falls were.
Talson Rody questioned the ministry’s weighting system that put Kap and Smooth Rock in first and second place. He said if public input had gone into the weighting process, the result would have more accurately reflected the wants of the public.
The small crowd also questioned the location and feasibility of the road. Town councillor Marc David wondered where gravel for it would come from. The MTC reps replied that there were gravel deposits all along the proposed routes that could be tapped for road construction.”
Ministry officials got out of the meeting with eleven answers to a questionnaire dealing with things like whether a road was even needed, and which of the outlined priorities for a route was best.
Thanks to the Cochrane Public Library for allowing us to dip into its archives for our weekly history feature.
