$405M announced for Mackenzie Valley Highway assessment, bridges

The federal government is investing $405 million to advance design work on the Mackenzie Valley Highway and the building of related bridges – the biggest investment yet in the project.

The federal dollars will be used to finalize a portion of the Mackenzie Valley Highway’s environmental assessment and its design between Wrigley and Norman Wells.

Cash will also go toward construction of the two-lane Great Bear River Bridge near Tulita, the second phase of the Prohibition Creek Access Road, and preliminary engineering and design work for two new bridges along Highway 1 over the Liard River (outside Fort Simpson) and Mackenzie River (en route to Wrigley).

While it is a fraction of the sum needed to build the highway, the $405 million – announced by federal transportation minister Steven MacKinnon, Crown-Indigenous relations minister Rebecca Alty and NWT deputy premier Caroline Wawzonek in Norman Wells – represents a large chunk of the $1-billion federal Arctic Infrastructure Fund, recently launched to support large projects serving both defence and civilian needs.

The investment “will help build more dependable connections, strengthen supply chains, create economic opportunities and improve access to essential services,” MacKinnon was quoted as saying in a Tuesday news release.

The federal government did not provide a breakdown of how much money would go to each aspect of the project.

Construction to take three to four years

In a related development, new documents submitted to the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board show the GNWT’s latest corridor for the Mackenzie Valley Highway and its proposed construction timeline.

The highway up until Fort Good Hope would roughly follow the existing Mackenzie Valley Winter Road. Past Fort Good Hope into the Gwich’in Settlement Area, there are four proposed corridor options:

• the first follows the Gwich’in Tribal Council’s preferred route in 2011 and ends 20 km southeast of Inuvik;
• the second follows a route proposed by the Tetł’it Gwich’in Council and would connect to the Dempster Highway approximately five kilometres north of Tsiigehtchic; and
• the final two routes, based on a Public Works Canada 1974 concept, would end 60 km north of Tsiigehtchic.

The GNWT suggests construction could take three to four years if the highway is built in six segments, with work taking place on each segment at the same time.

The shortest segment – from Tulita to the Prohibition Creek Access Road – is 48 km, while the longest – the Gwich’in Settlement Area portion – is up to 201 km. Other segments range from 106 to 154 km.

After construction is finished, an extra three years are proposed for removal of bridges along the winter road route that were not included in the all-season highway.

The GNWT said segments of the all-season highway would open to the public as construction is completed.

Under the GNWT’s proposed schedule, the Mackenzie Valley Highway could be fully constructed and open for use by 2032, meaning construction would begin in 2028. Premier RJ Simpson has previously said he wants construction to take less than five years.

The territory is in the process of trying to change the environmental assessment from a two-stage process – first Wrigley to Norman Wells, then Norman Wells to Inuvik – into one that covers the whole route in one go. Tuesday’s news release was silent on that possible shift.

Bridge funding

The announcement also placed significant cash behind plans to build bridges along the existing Highway 1.

Residents of Fort Simpson and Wrigley have spent decades advocating for bridges to replace seasonal ferry and winter road services, eliminating weeks during freeze-up and break-up without any road access.

When the Government of Canada triggered the formal process to consider listing the Mackenzie Valley Highway as a “project of national interest” last month, associated documentation made clear bridges for those communities would be part of the overall plan.

National interest designation allows ministers to fast track it through some federal regulatory approvals. The NWT has repeatedly stated that its own environmental assessment process will not be affected. The federal government is currently accepting public comments by email until October 1 on whether to list the highway.

Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation Chief Kele Antoine told Cabin Radio earlier this month that the prospect of a bridge across the Liard River would benefit Dehcho communities during emergencies.

At the end of June, residents of Fort Simpson were evacuated for nearly three weeks due to a wildfire. While that evacuation went well, Antoine said, in different circumstances the ferry could create a dangerous bottleneck for people evacuating by car.