Forest Lake Online

What a pleasant surprise to turn the corner at the little white church and see a ribbon of asphalt!

That's right, a smooth ride all the way to the top of the hill before you head down again to the little bridge. My original thought that the road was going back to gravel was wrong. We now have one of the nicest roads in Quebec! Not sure the plan or timing for the rest of this stretch of road, but we will take this luxury for now.

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As soon as I turned right up the Kilmar Road, I found my self slowed behind a large truck on its way to the Highway 50 project or the mine/plant. I took the left down towards the river road. A little rough for my van with sections of washboard but overall, a very nice drive along the river.

Harrington Road was another story. I hit some major pot holes and one jump that had us hitting the roof! We were slowed to a stop by a flagman the the little white church, where digging was being done to repair/replace what looked like water lines or sewers.

Heavy machinery works on Harrington Road & Rouge River Road intersection.

Once past the church, I can honestly say that the Rouge River Road towards Johnston Road was in the worst shape I have ever seen in 35 years. It is obvious that the plan is to turn this stretch back to a gravel road. Something that had been discussed here and on Harrington Free Expression over the past years.

On the drive home, I took the Kilmar Road and besides a few trucks to pass, the road is in essentially the same shape as last year - not very good for a paved road.

Post your own experiences of drives in Harrington in this blog or create your own.

The road to the cottage is a hard one. The Chemin de la Riviere Rouge then Kilmar Road is full of serious potholes so drive with care.

There is no doubt that the increased traffic of heavy vehicles to/from the Kilmar mines and those used for other development have pushed our fragile roads to their limits.

For those that have read this blog before know that I sometimes prefer to take the road along the river and pop out at the other end of the Harrington Valley, however, of late this road has been pretty bad too. The main difference between the two routes is that the Kilmar road is (was) asphalt where the river road is gravel based and is graded every so often by Grenville road crews.

The continuation of Chemin de la Riviere Rouge up from the little white church is as bad as it has ever been – potholes, gravel, bumps and soft shoulders all make for a slower journey up to Johnson Road.

Regardless, these roads only make up that last half hour of trip that is more than worth it once you take that first plunge in the now warmer waters of Forest Lake.

See you at the lake.

In only one week, the Rouge River Road has taken quite a beating. There were many more potholes than only a week before.

On the drive home, I took the Kilmar road. I noticed these large culverts sitting beside the road just waiting to be installed in a washed out section.

Overall the Kilmar Road was a better choice (this week!).

Culverts awaiting installation.

Heading to Forest Lake on Tuesday, I was able to take the road along the river for the first time this season. It was apparent that repairs had been made to the road bed at several points along the Rouge.

It would appear that the road bed had been built up using a reddish lava type of rock and then gravel used as the surface. As seen in the photos below, the road bed was rebuilt completely in some areas where the powerful Rouge River must have raised by 3-4 feet this spring.

The shot of the sand bar, carved by the river, demonstrates the height of the cold, churning waters. We have stopped and played on that same sand bar many time but never can I remember it been so untouched by rain or human feet.

Overall the river road was excellent. It certainly is a great drive on a warm, sunny Spring day!

Enjoy.

Marc

New road bed at the Rouge.

New road bed base then 3/4 gravel.

Red rock. This red rock has a poriuos volcanic quality. It has been exstesively as the new road bed along the Rouge River Road this Spring.

I've heard from a few people that the Riviere Rouge Road isn't in very good condition this spring - lots of water and mud. I guess it's not surprising with the mountains of snow we got this year. Anybody have first hand experience with the road in the past week and advice about driving up to Forest Lake they would like to share. Janis

(originally posted by By janismorelli at Thu, 04/03/2008 - 18:36)