Transportation Challenges on the East Side

Currently, there is no permanent road on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. As a result, transportation within the region is severely limited with communities depending on air, marine or winter road service. All of these forms of transportation tend to have higher operational costs or are severely limited, thereby resulting in increased costs for goods and services.

The most widespread form of transportation throughout the region is air transportation. Most communities have an airport or have access to an airport in a nearby community. For some communities, such as the communities of Pauingassi, this means taking a boat ride to the airport. For most local residents, air transportation is very costly and is often not an option.

During summer months, some communities are also able to utilize marine transportation such as ferries and barges. For example, communities that are located on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, such as Berens River, Bloodvein and Poplar River First Nation, are able to bring goods into their communities across the lake. However, marine transport is restricted to summer months and is only an option for communities that have marine access.

During winter months, most communities are able to use winter roads to travel from one community to another or to travel to a larger centre such as Thompson or Winnipeg. It is during this time that many remote communities bring much of their supplies into their communities since road transportation is generally cheaper than air transportation. It is estimated that approximately 2,500 shipments of staple items such as fuel, groceries, construction materials and general freight are transported each year by commercial trucks on the provincial winter road system.

However, the period of time in which a winter road can be used varies and, with the challenges of climate change, this period is becoming shorter and shorter especially on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. Generally, the window of opportunity for using the winter road network is about eight weeks starting in late January and continuing into mid to late March. However, in recent years, the winter roads have begun to thaw earlier in the year, thereby reducing the already short window for safely using the winter road network.

In 2000, the Province of Manitoba undertook a provincial study on developing an all-season road system on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. The study, entitled All Weather Road East Side of Lake Winnipeg Justification and Scoping Study covers an area that extends from the vicinity of Manigotagan in the south to Oxford House (Bunibonibee First Nation) in the north and from Lake Winnipeg in the west to the Ontario border.

The study's general conclusions were:

The existing winter road system provides marginally acceptable service to communities.
Total costs of the winter road system are rising due to growing populations in the region and increasing demands.
The majority of communities in the region support an all-weather road system as a means of reducing the cost of living, enhancing travel opportunities, and improving emergency, health, education and social services.
Communities have concerns about the impact of an all- weather road and the resulting resource development on lifestyles, land use, the environment and control over their future destiny.
Rapid population growth in the study area justifies the all-weather road project for many of the communities based on long-term transportation costs.
Resource development projects potentially supported by an all-weather road system include expanded forestry operations, mining exploration opportunities, hydro development, and enlarged fisheries and tourism.

Communities in the study region included Bloodvein, Berens River, Poplar River, Little Grand Rapids, Pauingassi, St. Theresa Point, Wasagomach, Garden Hill, Red Sucker Lake, Norway House, Cross Lake, Oxford House, Gods River and Gods Lake Narrows.