Highway 17S (Wawa to Batchawana) OPEN One Lane

Jun 1, 2026 at 04:38

At 23:21, on May 31st, Highway 17 was reopened to one lane on the Old Woman Bay Hill. The eastbound lane and shoulder is closed.

May 31, 2026 at 20:07

Travel woes continue for travellers.

A collision on Highway 129 has meant that OPP has closed the highway for investigation. The highway is closed in both directions from the Junction of 667 (to Sultan)/129 and the Junction of 129/17 at Thessalon.

If you were planning to travel eastward from Wawa, you may wish to make arrangements for overnight accomodations in Wawa.

May 31, 2026 at 12:59

There have been no updates from North East OPP on X. Wawa-news can confirm that a culvert is being replaced on the Old Woman Hill forcing the closure of Highway 17 from Wawa to Batchawana (Junction of Hwy 17 & Hwy 563). There is a detour along Hwy 101/129  – Wawa to Thessalon noted below.

Wawa-news is also aware that some motorists are taking the Ranger Lake Road/Searchmont/SSM. This road is a gravel road from Hwy 129 to Searchmont, and has many sharp corners and hills, and poor to no cell service. Wawa-news would not recommend this as a detour.

May 31, 2026 at 9:09

At 8:15 a.m. the highway closure was moved.

Highway 17 is now closed from Wawa to Pancake Bay, however ON511 camera is showing the barricade in place at the Junction of Hwy 17 & Hwy 563 (Batchawana).

Residents from Batchawana to Sault Ste. Marie can now travel on that stretch of Highway, as well as visitors/campers at Pancake Bay Provincial Park.

OPP stated via X that “The closure is expected into Monday or longer.”

Detour: This is an expected travel time of 3h 47m, 340km. Please travel with care along the Mississagi River. The highway is only two lanes and there are some sharp corners and hills.

Eastbound Travellers Detour: From Wawa take Hwy 101 to the Junction of Hwy 129/101 (Chapleau). Then take Hwy 129 to Thessalon (Junction of Hwy 129/17). From there you can travel west to Sault Ste. Marie or east to Sudbury.

Westbound Travellers Detour: From Thessalon (Junction of Hwy 129/17), along Highway 129 to the Junction of Hwy 129/101 (Chapleau). Then take Hwy 101 to Wawa.

May 30, 2026 at 20:56

From Northeast OPP (8:24 p.m.): Reopening of #Hwy17 not expected until sometime on Monday, June 1. Updates to follow.

May 30, 2026 at 20:25

Highway 17 between Wawa and Heyden is currently closed for emergency roadwork.

Northeast OPP stated the Hwy 17  is closed between Wawa and Hwy 556 (Heyden), “due to poor road conditions and emergency roadwork. Expected to be a prolonged closure, which may reopen sometime after sunrise tomorrow.”

Wawa-news would suspect that this is to finally fix the culverts at the Old Woman Bay Hill that has forced a westbound lane closure since April 25th. There were a number of updates from ON511 just prior to the OPP update.

Timeline of May 30th, ON511:

At 18:55 on May 30th, ON511 cleared the lane closure at Old Woman Bay, “Hwy 17 reduced to one lane in the Old Woman Bay area due to a failed culvert”. The closure originally stated that this was a one lane closure, but today was updated to one lane open (7:28 a.m.).

At 19:02 on May 30th, ON511 began Incident 004717 – Hwy 17 closed from Heyden to Wawa due to a failed culvert, then cleared that incident at 19:13.

At 19:14 on May 30th, ON511 began Incident #365438, Hwy 17 closed heyden to wawa for emergency road work.