The
Ontario Ministry of Transportation has explored plans to realign Highway 17's Montreal River Hill route to both straighten its curves and reduce its grade. The preferred plan, released in 2004, would construct a new route between the community of
Montreal River Harbour and the Gartshore Generating Station. The municipal governments in the region, including Wawa and
Chapleau, have proposed an alternate solution, whereby the Highway 17 route would be left where it is in recognition of its scenic importance as a tourism destination in the area, while instead the
Sultan Industrial Road would be upgraded to full provincial highway standards, providing an additional connection to
Ontario Highway 144 as an alternate route. The township of Wawa later proposed alternate models which would see the highway realignment take place while still taking into account the existing route's importance: in one of the new alternatives, the current route would remain in operation as an alternate
scenic route, while in another, the newly realigned highway would operate only in the winter, while for most of the year traffic would continue to use the existing route. ==References==