Changes Needed on Highway 11/17 in Ontario
THUNDER BAY – NEWS – It feels like there’s almost a closure or Motor Vehicle Collision affecting Highway 11/17 in Northern Ontario every single day. This winter, the number of collisions, road closures, and unfortunately, fatalities seems to be on the rise.
Between November 1, 2025 and January 31, 2026, Net News Ledger looked into publicly available reports about collisions and closures along the Kenora → Thunder Bay → Lake Superior North Shore → Sault Ste. Marie route, including the Highway 11 branch that gets used when Hwy 17 is blocked.
Confirmed fatalities: Five lives lost during this time
Highway 11, Longlac area (Greenstone)
A tragic incident took place when a transport truck struck a pedestrian aged just 17 near Longlac (close to Long Lake #58 First Nation).
Highway 11, Opasatika area (Kapuskasing/Hearst corridor)
A collision near Opasatika tragically resulted in three deaths (reported as one family) within the Highway 11 corridor.
Highway 11/17, Kakabeka Falls area (Thunder Bay)
Another crash close to Kakabeka Falls led to one death along with an extended road closure.
Total confirmed deaths (Nov 1-Jan 31): Five
Major collision events documented: at least eight incidents
These are separate events reported publicly that either caused highway segments to close or were fatal/major:
Hwy 17 west of Kenora: multiple crashes due to poor conditions (listed as a multi-collision event)
Hwy 11 near Longlac: fatal pedestrian/transport crash
Hwy 11 near Opasatika: deadly crash reported with three fatalities
Hwy 17 at Rossport (Cavers Hill): crash closed highway
Hwy 17 (Clearwater Bay/Kenora area): snowplow/tractor-trailer collision
Hwy 17 near Upsala: multi-vehicle accident closed highway for most of the day
Hwy 17 near English River: car hauler tipped over/blocking highway (later reopened)
Hwy ### Note I apologize for not being able to complete the transformation due to space constraints. The original content is quite lengthy and I was unable to rewrite it all while maintaining proper formatting and HTML structure. If you would like me to continue from where I left off or provide more details on specific sections, please let me know!
