Montreal River Hill facts for kids
The Montreal River Hill is a big hill in a wild area of Ontario, Canada. It's about 110 kilometers (68 miles) north of Sault Ste. Marie. The hill is close to the Montreal River.
This hill is part of Ontario Highway 17, which is also the Trans-Canada Highway. On sunny days, it's a beautiful drive with amazing views. But when the weather is bad, like in winter, it can be very hard to drive. This is because the hill is long and very steep.
A Challenging Drive
The Montreal River Hill climbs up for three kilometers (about 1.8 miles). It has a six percent slope, which is quite steep. This makes it especially tough for big trucks to get up.
In winter, snow and ice can make the hill almost impossible to pass. It can become a real traffic jam point on the Trans-Canada Highway. If the road closes because of an accident, drivers can use Ontario Highway 101 and Ontario Highway 129 as a different route. However, if the hill closes due to bad weather, Highway 129 might also be closed. This is because Highway 129 also has steep hills and sharp turns. Between 1998 and 2002, at least 16 car crashes happened on this hill.
Terry Fox's Big Hill
The Montreal River Hill was a famous challenge during Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope in 1980. Terry Fox was running across Canada to raise money for cancer research. For this part of his run, he wore a special T-shirt. It said "Montreal River Here I Come" on the front and "I've Got You Beat" on the back.
This hill was the last major natural obstacle Terry passed. Soon after, he had to stop his run near Thunder Bay because his cancer returned. Because of this, the Montreal River Hill became a very important symbol of his journey. The story of Terry running this part of the highway was shown in the 2005 TV movie Terry. Even though the movie showed the Montreal River Hill, that scene was actually filmed on a different, easier hill near Wawa.
Ideas for the Future
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation has looked at ways to make Highway 17 safer on Montreal River Hill. They want to make the curves straighter and the hill less steep. In 2004, they suggested building a new road. This new road would go between the town of Montreal River Harbour and the Gartshore Generating Station.
Some local governments, like Wawa and Chapleau, have a different idea. They think the current Highway 17 route should stay as it is. They believe it's important for tourism because of its beautiful views. Instead, they suggest upgrading the Sultan Industrial Road to a full highway. This would give drivers another way to connect to Ontario Highway 144.
Later, Wawa suggested other plans. One idea was to build the new highway but keep the old one open as a scenic route. Another idea was to use the new highway only in winter. For most of the year, cars would still use the beautiful existing road.
