Tertiary Highway 802, commonly referred to as Highway 802, is a provincially maintained tertiary 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 Ca ...

, located in

Thunder Bay District Thunder Bay District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. The district seat is Thunder Bay. In 2016, the population was 146,048. The land area is ; the population density was . Most of ...

. The route branches both north and south from Highway 11 to connect with the community of Kashabowie and the ghost town of

Burchell Lake Burchell Lake is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located behind a locked gate at the southern end of Highway 802 in the Thunder Bay District.Ron Brown, ''Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage''. Boston Mills Press, 2007. . The town exi ...

, respectively. The highway was established in 1962 at the peak of operations of the Burchell Lake mine. Although the mine and town were subsequently abandoned in 1966, the highway remains under provincial jurisdiction. The section that travels concurrently with Highway11 forms part of the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...

Route description

Highway 802 is a route that branches both north and south from Highway11 approximately west of

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

. The north branch travels to the community of Kashabowie, ending at a crossing of the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

(CNR). The south branch begins to the west of the north branch, and travels to the ghost town of Burchell Lake, ending at a locked gate. Highway11, which forms part of the Trans-Canada Highway, connects the two branches; it is listed as a concurrency with Highway802. The north branch is also known as Kashabowie Road, while the south branch is known as Burchell Lake Road. While 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 ...

is responsible for maintaining Highway802, the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act stipulates that this "does not include the clearing or removal of snow therefrom or the application of chemicals or abrasives to the icy surfaces thereof." Furthermore, the Ministry is "not liable for any damage sustained... using a tertiary road." Traffic levels along the route are low, with approximately 40vehicles travelling the north branch and 30vehicles travelling the south branch on an average day in 2016. The speed limit along the north branch is , while along the south branch it is , as of 2022.

History

Highway802 follows a road that was originally built in 1901 to link the mineral exploration site at Burchell Lake with the train station at Kashabowie, along the newly-opened CNR (then the Canadian Northern Railway) tracks. The site, where copper was discovered by three prospectors in 1876, quickly grew following the opening of the new transportation link. Fluctuations in the price of copper would result in the closure of the Tip Top Mine following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Interest in the site was renewed in the 1950s, and a town site constructed in 1956. The new mine began full operations extracting copper and gold in 1960, with Burchell Lake boasting a population of almost 400 at its peak. The Department of Highways, predecessor to the modern

, having recently opened up Highway11 to

Atikokan Atikokan (, Ojibwe for 'caribou bones') is a town in the Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population was 2,642 as of the 2021 census. The town is one of the main entry points into Quetico Provincial Park and promotes itse ...

, took over the access road to the mine and to Kashabowie on April19, 1962, and designated on May24 . However, operations at the mine were short-lived, and it closed permanently on August5, 1966. Despite this, the southern branch of the highway has remained under provincial jurisdiction.

Major intersections

References

{{Ontario Tertiary Highways

802 Year 802 ( DCCCII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * October 31 – Empress Irene is deposed after a 5-year reign, and banishe ...

Roads in Thunder Bay District