I have just finished reading two article about the problems connected to the washout along Highway 148 in Luskville. Mr. Ryan and Mr. Healey both have interesting points. Mr. Ryan, I am not sure we can go back and hang the engineers, planners, and managers of the day when the road was built.
I have just finished reading two article about the problems connected to the washout along Highway 148 in Luskville. Mr. Ryan and Mr. Healey both have interesting points. Mr. Ryan, I am not sure we can go back and hang the engineers, planners, and managers of the day when the road was built.
It was 1975 and I was doing some administrative work for the C.S.R.O (Commission Scolaire Regional Outaouais) on behalf of the High School in L’Isle-aux-Allumettes. As I had to travel to Hull several times a week in a small non-air- conditioned car, I experienced the heat, sand, dust and construction first hand. Thirty-nine years ago, the rules of road construction were nothing like they are today in regards to types and quality of fill, for example.
Furthermore, back then there was actually competition in the fur trade. A farmer had a choice to trap to rid himself of the beaver pests, or he just shot them before damage could be done. Road washouts involving broken beaver dams were the exception and not the rule. We all know the number of vehicles using the road. The size and weight of the load was a small percentage of what it is today – consider beer trucks as one example.
Unfortunately our large, sparsely populated area involves single veins connecting us to different points, often without alternatives. Maybe this is the time for the MTQ to map out permanent emergency alternatives from Fort-William to Gatineau.
Finally, Mr. Fortin, I am sure you are an avid reader of this newspaper as it is sure to bring you close to the thoughts and feelings of your constituents. It is time to take up the challenge of improving and expanding the road system in the Pontiac. Highway 148 doesn’t stand alone – look at what happened along Highway 174 in Ottawa. Highway 148 is ours – we are the people who rely on it for work, medical treatment, recreation, etc. It has to be there for us.
Wayne Venne
WALTHAM
