The Sultan Industrial Road, also sometimes unofficially known as Ramsey Industrial Road, is a public–private forest access road in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. Originally built as a resource route for E. B. Eddy's logging and lumber operations in the northwestern

Sudbury District The Sudbury District is a district in Northeastern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1894 from townships of eastern Algoma District and west Nipissing District. The overwhelming majority of the district (about 92%) ...

, the road is now owned and operated by Eacom Timber. It is under a public access agreement with the province, permitting its use for public travel since 1978. The Sultan Industrial Road is gravel-surfaced throughout its length. There are no services along the remote route.

Route description

The road, which has a gravel surface, begins at Highway 667 in the community of Sultan. It travels eastward through remote forests for approximately to the intersection of Highway 144 and Highway 560, north of Cartier and south of Gogama. The road is one of the only intersections along Highway 144 apart from its termini. It also provides the only all-season road access to the community of Biscotasing and the

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

s of Jerome Mine and

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Geography British Isles * Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England * Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England ** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey" * Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...

. There are no services available along the road. A traffic study on the road in 2016 found that 45 percent of the vehicles using the road were passenger cars. In 2007 the

Ministry of Transportation A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

(MTO) estimated that approximately 400 vehicles traverse the road on an average day. The Sultan Industrial Road is maintained by Eacom Timber Corporation in a joint funding agreement with the Province of Ontario. It has a speed limit of , as defined in Ontario Regulation 621. Despite this, traffic often travels faster, and the loose surface of the road can result in airborne debris.

History

The Sultan Industrial Road was initially constructed by the private logging company, E.B. Eddy Forest Products Limited, and was known as the Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment (KVP) Road. On September 19, 1978, an agreement was signed between the company and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, predecessor to the modern MTO. This agreement opened the road for public use under the maintenance of the company. The road has remained unchanged since, with the exception of the responsibility for its maintenance, which is now under the jurisdiction of Eacom. In the 1990s, provincial MPP Floyd Laughren lobbied for the road to be fully paved, and secured a commitment from the MTO to do so shortly before the 1995 election; however, following the election the plan was cancelled by the new government of

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

. Many municipal politicians and media commentators in the area have also lobbied for the road to be upgraded to full

provincial highway Numbered highways in Canada are split by province, and a majority are maintained by their province or territory transportation department. All highways in Canada are numbered except for three in the Northwest Territories, one in Alberta, one in O ...

status, as the route would reduce the length of a trip from Sudbury to Wawa by over compared to the current routing of Highway 17, and would provide an alternate route for traffic in the event of a closure of the

Montreal River Hill Montreal River Hill is a hill in Unorganized North Algoma District, Ontario, Canada, located north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario near the Montreal River. Despite this, the MTO contends that traffic volumes along the road do not justify its assumption as a provincial highway.

Major intersections

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Roads in Sudbury District