Hwy. 69 widening will slice off parts of French River, Grundy Lake parks

The province plans to use small sections of French River and Grundy Lake provincial parks to expand Highway 69 to four lanes.

The Ontario government is proposing to remove small areas of land from French River and Grundy Lake provincial parks for the Ministry of Transportation’s expansion of Highway 69.

French River and Grundy Lake provincial parks are located between Parry Sound and Sudbury, with the boundaries of both parks abutting Highway 69.

“The Ministry of Transportation is expanding Highway 69 to four lanes and requires small portions of both parks to be deregulated to accommodate the expansion,” the province said in its notice, posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario website.

French River Provincial Park is a 73,530-hectare waterway class park. The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks wants to reduce that by 1.1 hectares where the highway crosses the French River and 7.9 hectares just south of Highway 522.

“Approximately 1.7 hectares of land would remain with MTO for the new highway corridor, while three hectares are intended for the Canadian National Railway Company and 4.3 hectares are intended for the Municipality of Killarney. CN requires the land for a railway realignment that is necessary due to the highway expansion.”

The municipality requires land for the Key River Landfill, which is impacted by the realigned railway.

Grundy Lake Provincial Park is a 3,614-hectare natural environmental class park. To accommodate widening Highway 69, the plan would remove 12.5 hectares for the new highway corridor.

Changes require an amendment

Removing the lands from French River and Grundy Lake provincial parks requires amending the Provincial Parks and Conservation Reserves Act.

“The ministry will be sending letters to Indigenous communities, provincial and regional stakeholders, and the local community directly to advise them of the proposed boundary amendments,” the notice said.

In a statement to CTV News, the Ministry said construction to expand the section of Highway 69 south of the French River “will start once property is secured, all environmental and regulatory approvals are in place, and the ministry has completed duty to consult obligations and to ensure all impacted and interested Indigenous communities have been appropriately consulted.”

Residents can provide comments on the proposal during the 30-day consultation stage of the process, which runs until Sept. 11.

Environmental Registry Ontario will then review the comments and make its decision, which can be appealed in certain circumstances.

Details of how the process works can be found here.