Route Description
The Quebec North Shore Company and Hydro-Québec completed portions from Route 138 to the Manic 5 hydroelectric project site (km 212), now known as the Daniel-Johnson Dam.
From km 212, the highway follows a path traditionally used by aboriginal people and explorers, with access to the Hart Jaune Hydroelectric Complex at km 390. The town of Gagnon, now torn down, was at km 394.
Starting at km 482, the "Fire Lake Mine Road" section was built by unemployed workers during a labour dispute, influenced by the presence of the railway owned by the Québec Cartier Mining Company. This section of paved road is notoriously known as "the trail."
From km 482 to the provincial border at km 570 (354 miles from Baie Comeau), the road is an accident-prone section notorious for its poor surface and sharp curves (the joke being you can see your own taillights). Local citizens in adjacent Labrador have been urging realignment of this road, a vital work if it were to be the routing to a fixed link to Newfoundland.
On 9 April 2009, the Quebec government announced that $438 million will be spent for work to improve the highway from the south end as far as Fermont, with major upgrading and repair work. This will include a significant reroute in the Fire Lake-Fermont section far to the southeast between approximately Km 508 and Km 565, rejoining the existing route by way of the Fermont access road and no longer routing through Mont-Wright. Work is expected to take fully 10 years, although planning of improvements to this northernmost section began almost immediately.
Bridge over the Pékans River (around km 550) is popular starting point for the canoe trips down the Moisie River.
At km 562 is the town of Fermont, a mining town with a population of 2,918, and last Quebec port-of-call before entering Newfoundland and Labrador. Labrador City is 23 km further along what is now Highway 500, Wabush is 5 km east of that on Highway 503 (which ends in Wabush). The Happy Valley/Goose Bay ferry terminal is located 526 km east of Wabush, along the shores of Lake Melville, with access to the Atlantic Ocean. The Labrador City/Fermont area border crossing is roughly the half-way point of the approximately 16 hour drive between the junction of Routes 138 and 389 in Baie-Comeau and the end of Route 500 (and adjunct Route 520) in Happy Valley – Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Read more about this topic: Quebec Route 389
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