Rail lines and nuclear plants nearby?

Trent Hills could be involved in two major construction projects

The green line option cuts across Trent Hills.

For the last several months my eyes have just glazed over when Prime Minister Mark Carney talked about the major projects his government will push to rebuild our economy. I have no interest in more pipelines, actually think they are a dumb idea, and we live a long way from the Ring of Fire in Northern Ontario, so I just ignored the noise.

Until this week, when I realized that Trent Hills could be close to two major projects in coming years – a new nuclear power plant in Port Hope and the Alto high speed train line that may run southeast from Peterborough towards Kingston. There are currently public consultations underway on both these plans.

The real surprise to me this week was a map that shows the southern Alto line as an option. I knew the plan was to link Toronto and Ottawa via Peterborough but assumed the line would be north of Highway 7 and have no real impact on us.

But now I’ve learned that Alto is considering two options for the Peterborough-Ottawa line, a northern one across the Canadian Shield and a southern one that heads towards Kingston and has a station north of that city.

That idea caught my attention since it would likely cut across Trent Hills on its way.

Here’s what the Alto website says about the two options:

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

1. 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.

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

The company says close to Peterborough “the alignment would favour existing corridors (highways, rail lines, power lines) to limit impacts on agricultural, forested, and recreational areas. The station could be located near major roads, with a connection to bus services.”

You can read more about the high-speed rail plans on its website. There are online consultations or you can attend ones in person in Stirling, Peterborough, and Madoc.

The Stirling meeting will be held March 25 at the Stirling and District Lions Club, 435 Front Street West. The Madoc event will be March 5 at the Madoc Township Recreation Centre, 15651 ON-62, Madoc, and the Peterborough session will be February 26 at the McDonnel Street Community Centre, 577 McDonnel Street. All the events will have drop-in hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The Ford government is pushing ahead with plans for the world’s largest nuclear plant just west of Port Hope on 1,300 acres the government has owned for 50 years. Representatives of Ontario Power Generation made a presentation to county council a couple of months ago to promote the benefits and warn them of the need to be prepared to provide housing and other services.

Construction of the nuclear facility would require thousands of workers for many years and those workers will need homes. Port Hope Mayor Olena Hankivsky said she has visited Hinkley Point in Britain to learn how nearby communities have coped with the pressures and needs of construction of a major nuclear plant.

Last week, the federal government started consultations on the Port Hope plan. “The Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission invite Indigenous Peoples and the public to review the summary of the Initial Project Description for the New Nuclear at Wesleyville Project and provide feedback by February 11, 2026,” the government said.

Be forewarned, the summary is a 99-page document. There will be information sessions later this month, in person and online. Details here. OPG has a website with lots of details about its plans.

The existing unused generating station. OPG photo.

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