Sometimes paved, sometimes gravel, Route 389 that connects Baie-Comeau and Fermont on the North Shore is one of the most winding in Quebec, full of contrasts with its beauty and its dangers.
• Read also: Road 389 repair work progresses in Baie-Comeau
Driving for the first time on this artery which brushes against the Daniel-Johnson dam, then makes us discover the majestic Monts Groulx, is setting off on an adventure.
In some places, it is straight and very smooth.
“The landscapes are breathtaking. But if we look at the bad side of the coin, the safety side, we are 20 years back,” exclaims trucker Patrice Lapointe.
The provincial road sometimes looks like a forest road.
Two important sections totaling 169 kilometers are not paved. They represent almost a third of the long route of 570 kilometers. Several slopes and curves do not comply with the standards of the Ministère des Transports.
“We call it the snake because there are lots of curves, lots of bumps, deterioration of the road”, points out a motorist, Roger Robert.
When the road surface is dry, passing vehicles can easily reduce visibility.
When the rain falls, the road deteriorates so quickly that graders have to continually come in to repair it.
“The Thaw and the Fall. Autumn, in the rains, it takes two months, it’s hell. When it’s soaked, it’s sinking, it’s hard to stay on the way, ”explains the Fermont tug, Richard Boucher.
The situation is particularly difficult on the approach to Fermont when the road squarely crosses the ArcelorMittal mine site where cars, mining vehicles and trains rub shoulders.
You have to cross no less than 11 level crossings over a distance of barely 52 kilometres.
The 67 kilometer journey between Fermont and FireLake takes about an hour in normal times, but can easily triple when the conditions are difficult.
“Oh yes, it’s ‘rough’ on the body. Dams back, I handle a lot, at this point. The truckers, the heavy truckers, the last time I went up, the road was so messy that the guys were driving at ten kilometers an hour,” says delivery man Claude Couturier.
Route 389 isn’t particularly deadly, but paramedic response times are usually hours. A single barracks is along the road.
“If there is an accident at kilometer 300 and here, we are not there, we are discovered, a worker is missing and the ambulance is closed, it is Baie-Comeau who must go up. Baie-Comeau, it will take them an average of three hours. Worse after that, it’s to get him down,” summarizes paramedic Luc-David Harvey.
Also, getting help is not easy. There are certainly 12 emergency telephones on the edge of the road, but the cellular waves are completely absent.
Telecommunications and response times will always be a challenge on this route, but significant improvements are currently being made thanks to investments of $525 million. Two major projects are underway. The one in progress north of Baie-Comeau, which will be completed by the end of the year, and the one south of Fermont. In this case, a new 43-kilometre route will be completed over the next four years.
However, this project does not include any paving.
“Hoping that within the next four years, they will announce that it will be paved because for the moment, they are repairing the road, but it is still gravel”, observes the mayor of Fermont, Martin Saint -Laurent.
He hopes to have all of Route 389 paved, not only for reasons of safety and comfort, but also for a question of economic development in a booming region.
“With the royalties and with the GDP that the two mining companies that I have in my region can represent, I think there is a way to find money to come and reinvest in our region,” he explains.
Reference-www.tvanouvelles.ca