Last Monday, 4 of 7 MINIs took a shortcut from the JBR to Nemaska, via a series of roads, saving ~87km (54 miles), and at least an hour in time. Overall, the shortcut was 150km (+/- 2km) in length. We bypassed km 396 to km 274 of JBR (122km) and km 406 to km 291 (115km) of the Route du Nord, a total of 237km.
All portions of the short cut were in excellent condition and immaculately plowed. They were a pleasure to drive, and a lot more fun than JBR this year (which was mostly plowed bare, with icy corners, and a rough 50km at the bottom).
The Opinaca Access Rd heads east from JBR km 396, and features an "Authorized Vehicles Only" sign at the entrance. Posted limit is 80km/h. At km 19, we encountered the guard station, and the Sarcelle Access Rd., which is a left turn heading north. After checking in, we went straight, and soon followed the 735kV lines coming down from Radisson. At km 40, we bore left at the fork for the Opinaca Aerodrome (airstrip). We crossed the earth dam starting around km 42, finally crossing atop the spillway and the start of the Eastmain river at km 46. The sign indicated it was "Eastmain 1", and there was a transformer station, but maps I have indicate that the Eastmain 1 generating station is elsewhere (see Figure 2 below)
Figure 1: According to
this topo map, that's where the road ends.
Figure 2:
But take a look at this map.
To get a good view, right-click, select "view image", and zoom into the area with the yellow highlighter. (this is necessary because direct links to the image don't work)
What are you looking at? According to that map, the "Muskeg - Eastmain 1 Rd". It's highlighted as future construction to be completed in 2008.
As we discovered, it is complete, posted at 70km/h, and is marked as km 46 to 86. It leads to the Eastmain Camp, near the Eastmain 1 and Eastmain 1-A generating stations, and has a lovely gas station (also marked on Figure 2). Two right turns were necessary within the camp to reach the gas station.
The gas station is on the Eastmain Access Rd, which has likely been around since Eastmain 1 was constructed (early 80s?). The nearby Eastmain 1-A is under construction, and will make use of the increased flow provided by a 50% diversion of the Rupert River starting in late 2009.
The gas station is near ~km62 of the Eastmain Access Rd. This road has a lot more signs for things like river crossings and forests, and is also posted at 70km/h. After passing through a few forest-fire afflicted areas, we arrived at km 0, in the Nemaska/Nemascau camp. The road ends at a T intersection. To the left is warehouses of the Nemaska camp. The exit is towards the right. A km later is another T-intersection. To the right is a power station, the exit is towards the left. After less than 1km is the exit gate to the Route du Nord. There is a left just before the gate which leads to the main portion of the Nemaska camp. Exiting the gate requires listing names and license plates again.
From the intersection with Route du Nord (km 291), the airport and Cree village lie to the west (right), and immediately to the east (left) is the public part of the Nemaska camp, which includes a gas station and an excellent restaurant.
From there, it is 308 km to Chibougamau, about 3 hours drive at night.
