‘Here we go again’ as Inuvik-Tuk Highway is washed out

The Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway is once again closed due to a washout of the road.

The entire 138-km highway from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk was closed as of Tuesday morning, though a Department of Infrastructure spokesperson said it should reopen by the afternoon.

In a written statement, the department said “contractors and GNWT staff are out assessing the road conditions, working on the affected area. We will have a better idea of repairs needed shortly and will provide more information as it becomes available.”

Tuktoyaktuk’s mayor, Erwin Elias, said it’s “really frustrating” to see the highway closed.

“It has a huge rippling effect any time the ITH is closed,” Elias said.

“Even if it’s for a day, it has an impact on the community.

“Especially this time of the year, with people that have been out on the land or travelling, or people trying to get out on the land, it has a huge impact… for people that were up in Tuk trying to harvest and trying to make it back home, or people trying to come here to harvest, and join in on the spring hunt.”

Earlier this year, the highway closed for 15 days in February due to record snowfall.

Elias was critical of the GNWT at the time, saying the territory had responded late to the snow and left the community at risk of running out of vital supplies.

The huge amount of snowfall received over the winter could be contributing now to the washouts, something that Elias said he warned the government about.

“It’s really frustrating to continue to have to see stuff like this happening where the government is being reactive with everything. I don’t know what we have to do here,” Elias said.

“I don’t know if they realize how serious these impacts are towards a small community like this. We already have enough road closures like this throughout the winter, and here we go again.”

Updates on current road conditions can be found on the GNWT’s highway conditions map.