Réservoir Caniapiscau vu de la route Transtaïga-02

The Trans-Taiga Road (french: Route Transtaïga) is an extremely remote wilderness road in

northern Quebec Northern Quebec (french: le nord du Québec) is a geographic term denoting the northerly, more remote and less populated parts of the Canadian province of Quebec.Alexandre Robaey"Charity group works with Indigenous communities to feed Northern Queb ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is long to Centrale Brisay and another along the

Caniapiscau Reservoir The Caniapiscau Reservoir () is a reservoir on the upper Caniapiscau River in the Côte-Nord administrative region of the Canadian province of Quebec. It is the largest body of water in Quebec and the second largest reservoir in Canada. The ...

, all of it unpaved.

Description

The road's northeastern terminus is almost at the 55th parallel north, making it the northernmost continuous road in Eastern North America. Though the terminus is also the farthest point from any town via road in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

( from Radisson), is nonetheless relatively close – – to

Schefferville Schefferville is a town in the Canadian province of Quebec. Schefferville is in the heart of the Naskapi and Innu territory in northern Quebec, less than 2 km (1¼ miles) from the border with Labrador on the north shore of Knob Lake. It i ...

geographically. It does not, however, provide access to it, as the intervening terrain is impassable even in an all-terrain vehicle. The road's end is also close to the southern limit of Nunavik, Quebec's Inuit region which is negotiating for autonomous status within Quebec. The Trans-Taiga Road branches off from the

James Bay Road The James Bay Road (french: Route de la Baie James), officially the Route Billy-Diamond Highway, is a remote wilderness highway winding its way through the Canadian Shield in northwestern Quebec and reaches into the James Bay region. It starts in ...

(french: Route de la Baie James, links=no) at kilometre 544. It was built as an access road to the hydro-electric generating stations of Hydro-Québec along the

La Grande River La Grande River (french: La Grande Rivière; cr, Chisasibi, script=latn; both meaning "great river") is a river in northwestern Quebec, Canada, which rises in the highlands of north central Quebec and flows roughly west to drain into James Bay. ...

and

Caniapiscau River The Caniapiscau River (french: rivière Caniapiscau) is a tributary of the Koksoak River in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada. In Cree the name of the river means ''rocky point''. Starting from Lac Sevestre ( south-west from Fermont) on the Canadian S ...

. Several outfitters are established along this road, providing wilderness hunting and fishing expeditions, and some may also provide fuel, food and lodging. Otherwise, there are no services along this road. While the Trans-Taiga Road is reportedly drivable by ordinary passenger vehicles for its entire length, Hydro-Québec recommends use of 4WD vehicles for the section between Brisay and Caniapiscau, which is of a rougher grade than the rest of the road. As the name of the road indicates, this road winds its way through Quebec's vast boreal forest, characterized by stunted spruce and pine, bogs and rocky outcroppings. ''

Taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...

'' is the Russian term for the same type of forest.

Extension

Regional and provincial officials have suggested building a link from the road's northeastern terminus in

Caniapiscau Caniapiscau () is a vast unorganized territory in the Côte-Nord region of Quebec, Canada, part of Caniapiscau Regional County Municipality. The territory is home to the huge Caniapiscau Reservoir, the largest body of water in Quebec. The res ...

Kuujjuaq Kuujjuaq (; iu, ᑰᑦᔪᐊᖅ, i=no or iu, ᑰᔾᔪᐊᖅ, i=no, label=none, "Great River"), formerly known as and by other names, is a former Hudson's Bay Company outpost at the mouth of the Koksoak River on Ungava Bay that has become ...

, several hundred kilometres to the north in Nunavik, also accessing

along the way. As the road east of Centrale Brisay is extremely rough (large rocks on the road surface), part of the existing road would also require upgrade; an extension via Schefferville would likely require crossing the province of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. In 2020 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the James Bay Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee and the Government of Québec. The MOU sets a roadmap for infrastructure development. Phase III of the Infrastructure program includes extension of the Trans-Taiga road eastward to connect with Schefferville, over an approximate distance of 200 km.

Waypoints

References

External links

{{Attached KML, display=title, inline
Unofficial site, part of the James Bay Road sitePlan by Quebec Provincial government
includes study of a possible extension to Kuujjuaq.
Mirage Outfitter
Roads in Nord-du-Québec Roads in Côte-Nord

Description

Extension

Waypoints

See also

References

External links