Modular homes beat winter road to Attawapiskat

While the James Bay winter road officially closed on Mar. 16, all 22 modular homes arrived in Attawapiskat well ahead of schedule last month.
Wayne Turner, the community’s executive director, said that they are planning on placing the last two trailer homes on their foundations within the next couple days.
No families have yet moved into any of the modular homes.
“We are in the process of installing water and sewage connections… and then we have to get them electrically hooked up,” Turner said. He estimates that the first families should be moving in within the next two to three weeks.
Meanwhile, most of the supplies for the construction of Attawapiskat’s new school did not arrive through the winter road.
Turner said that because of the late awarding of the construction contract on Mar. 6, the school project working group was not heavily relying on the winter road to bring in materials.
“The contractor was able to bring in some materials, so they are able to get a start (on construction) in May when the ground thaws,” he said. “But we were basically planning on the majority of the materials coming in during the summer months (by barge).”
The James Bay winter road opened on Feb. 8 and closed on Mar. 16 after warm temperatures began to expose the mud and grass on the road.