Tens of kilometers of detour due to erosion

Photo Simon-Pier Ouellet
In many places, the chemin Paugan, Denholm, has been swept away by the waters.

Simon-Pier Ouellet

Sunday, December 17, 2017 01:00

UPDATE
Sunday, December 17, 2017 01:00

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DENHOLM | A municipality of Ottawa no longer wants to pay to repair a road constantly damaged by erosion. Citizens will have to resign themselves to make a detour of 40 kilometers.

At the end of October, a portion of the chemin Paugan, located in Denholm, in Outaouais, has been washed away by the flood waters. The 100 mm of rain have displaced culverts and landslides have occurred.

Since 2008, it has been at least three times that the road is damaged because of the rainfall.

$2 Million

The chemin Paugan, which links The Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, Val-des-Monts, in Outaouais, is borrowed every day by hundreds of people.

The municipality of Denholm, which ensures the maintenance of the road, refuses to perform the repair work valued at$2 Million.

“This makes no sense. Even with the help of the government, it should be $ 400 000 $, which is a quarter of our annual budget “, said the mayor of this small town of 500 inhabitants, Gaetan Guindon.

This way saves a lot of time to its users, and its closure will lead to headaches. The emergency services and the Western Québec school Board must make a detour of 40 km since the access is blocked.

Review methods

For the past 10 years, the MTQ and Denholm have invested several thousands of dollars in the repair of culverts washed away by the waters.

The municipality came from elsewhere to build two bridges in the last year. The mayor Gaetan Guindon believes that the sum of two million estimated this time will not be sufficient.

“It is necessary to review the manner in which it repairs. It is necessary to replace culverts by bridges. It may recur in the future. We can’t always start over, ” he says.

Regional route

The municipality hopes that the department of Transport take responsibility for the path of 20 km.

“The majority of users are not even residents of Denholm. The MTQ does not want to recognize that this is a regional route “, said the mayor.

Following the decision to close the road, the minister responsible for the Outaouais region Stéphanie Vallée and the minister of Transport André Fortin have promised to make a proposal to the municipality.

“It is a journey that is important. Will have to see how it accompanies the municipality, because in my opinion, the permanent closure is not an option “, said the minister Valley.