June 1, 2015 – Inuvik, Northwest Territories – Infrastructure Canada
A successful second construction season has come to a close on the Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway in the Northwest Territories. Once completed, this important piece of northern infrastructure will provide all-weather access to Tuktoyaktuk, which is currently only served by ice road, barge, and air. It will also be the only public road to the Arctic Ocean in Canada.
At the peak of the winter construction season in 2014-15, substantial progress was made on 65.1 kilometres of the 137-kilometre all season highway project that employed over 600 people, 78% of which were from the North. The contractor hauled and placed 2.1 million cubic metres of embankment material, and installed one new bridge and 20 large culverts during this past construction season.
This project is generating numerous socio-economic opportunities for the region. The new highway is the most northern section of the envisioned Mackenzie Valley Highway, which will connect Canada's highway network from coast to coast to coast. It will decrease the cost of living in Tuktoyaktuk by enabling goods to be shipped by road year-round, increase opportunities for business development, reduce the cost of job-creating onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration, and strengthen Canada's sovereignty in the North.
"Strategic investments in territory-building infrastructure projects will help us better achieve our government's vision of a strong, prosperous Northwest Territories. We are very pleased with the contractor's progress and achievements with local employment, training, safety, and quality under difficult conditions. The project is proceeding as planned and we are looking forward to the highway's opening."
- The Honourable Tom Beaulieu, Minister of Transportation, Minister of Public Works and Services, Minister of Human Resources, Government of the Northwest Territories
Vincent Rabault
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs and
Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
613-943-1838
Patricia Russell
Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway Communications
Department of Transportation
Government of the Northwest Territories
867-873-7764
ITH@gov.nt.ca
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Infrastructure Canada
613-960-9251
Toll-free 1-877-250-7154
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