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

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

province of

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. 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. In 1973, the Regional Municipality of Sudbury was creat ...

, 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 Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

. It travels eastward through remote forests for approximately to the intersection of Highway 144 and Highway 560, north of

Cartier Cartier may refer to: People * Cartier (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Cartier Martin (born 1984), American basketball player Places * Cartier Island, an island north-west of Australia that is part of Australi ...

and south of

Gogama Gogama is a Northeastern Ontario community that is situated on Lake Minisinakwa, 580 kilometres north of Toronto, 191 km north of Sudbury, and 114 km south of Timmins. In the Canada 2011 Census, a population of 277 people was recorded ...

. 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 A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

s of Jerome Mine and

Ramsey Ramsey may refer to: Companies *Ramsey (retailer), Turkish clothing retailer People * Ramsey (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Ramsey (surname), including a list of people with the surname * Baron de Ramsey, a title i ...

. 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 a ...

(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 Floyd Laughren (born October 3, 1935) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 who represented the northern Ontario riding of Nickel Belt. He served in c ...

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 retired Canadian 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. Taking the PC ...

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

provincial highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a state or ...

status, as the route would reduce the length of a trip from

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario ** Sudbury (federal electoral district) ** Sudbury (provincial electoral district) ** Sudbury Airport ** Sudbury Basin, a meteorite impact cra ...

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