High Speed Rail Line Could Cross Road 38 Between Harrowsmith and Verona - Or Run North of 7, south of Cloyne

The long-anticipated corridor mapping for the proposed ALTO high speed rail project has been released, and along the 1,000 kilometre-long corridor, there is a single section where two alternate corridors are being considered, and that happens to be the section between Perth and the outskirts of Peterborough, which includes Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, Hastings and Peterborough Counties.

Along with the accompanying map, the following text was included about the two scenarios for the region:

“Leaving Ottawa toward Peterborough, two scenarios are under study:

Northern option: more direct, crossing the Canadian Shield and counties such as Lanark, Frontenac, and Hastings. This reduces travel distance and community impacts but involves complex work in remote and sensitive areas.

Southern option: through eastern Ontario, in agricultural and resort areas with higher population density. This approach simplifies construction and operations."

The corridor is many times wider than the actual fenced in rail line will. An Alto communications officer estimated the line will be 30 metres wide, but said it could be a bit wider than that. The map shows the 10km+ boundaries within which that narrow line could be located.

The map posted on the Alto website is suprisingly sparse in the context of the detailed municipal and Google mapping that is available for anyone to use.

It appears that the northern option is flanked Hwy 7 to the south, and then runs along Road 506, south of Cloyne and Mazinaw Lake.

The southern option heads south-west from Perth, passing south Westport, potentiallyt corssing Loughboough Lake near Battersea, and then passing north of Sydenham/\Harrowsmith and south of Godfrey. this route would certainly cross over Perth Road and Road 38 in South Frontenac.

A series of public information sessions are scheduled over the winter. There are two sessions set for Perth, at 11am and 5pm on Wednesday, March 4. On Thursday, March 5th, starting at 11am and 5pm, Alto representatives will be in Madoc. On Wednesday, March 25, sessions are scheduled at 11am and 5pm in Stirling