After nearly three years of work in conditions that included stretches of frigid, sunless days, Canada’s first all-weather highway to its Arctic Coast is on track for completion later this year.
Funded by Canada’s federal government and the Northwest Territories, the 85.7-mile, $222-million two-lane gravel highway will connect the frontier town of Inuvik with the 900-person coastal hamlet of Tuktoyakyuk. It will eliminate seasonal reliance on an ice road atop the Mackenzie River, the only overland link when the ice becomes thick enough to support heavy vehicles.