As soon as the snow is gone, the Northwest Territories’ roadwork season typically begins – and despite the pandemic, this year is no different.
The Government of the Northwest Territories had scheduled projects involving 10 roads and highways for the 2020 season, with work beginning in April.
The territory told Cabin Radio it’s still not clear how Covid-19 will impact the summer construction season.
The NWT government has already said infrastructure projects will be used to help sustain the construction and consulting sectors through the pandemic’s economic downturn, but said contractors would be allowed to stop work if they felt the risk of Covid-19 was too great.
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The territory did not provide the amount budgeted for roadwork this summer by the time of publication.
Here are the road and highway projects the NWT government has planned:
In April, chipseal resurfacing began on Highway 1 between kilometres 0 to 70 and 135 to 170. The Trout River Bridge will be rehabilitated in June, and a culvert at kilometre 510 will be repaired in July.
Starting this month, work will begin on Highway 3 and possibly on Highway 5.
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On Highway 3, workers will begin to produce and stockpile materials between kilometres 201 and 272. In June, surface repairs will take place from kilometres 256 to 332, while the 10 kilometres before the surface repairs will receive some rehabilitation: tree clearing, culvert replacements, and levelling.
The Deh Cho Bridge will be cleaned and erosion control will take place in June. All Highway 3 work should be completed by August.
On Highway 5, workers will be repairing chipseal on either side of the highway’s bridges, as well as concrete patching on piers and some site reclamation. Starting in June, kilometres 53 to 96 will be resurfaced with chipseal.
Also in June, work will start on Highway 4. Maintenance work is scheduled for the Baker Creek Bridge and the Yellowknife River Bridge. Between July and August, on the first 25 kilometres of the road, workers will repair dips complete some blasting, widen the embankment, replace culverts, and resurface with chipseal.
In July, Highway 8 will see its embankments widened, culverts replaced, and trees and bush removed from the sides of the road between kilometres 144 to 147. More culvert replacements at kilometres 147 to 266 are scheduled for winter 2021.
On Highway 10, Bridge #8 will undergo maintenance this summer, while at kilometre 131 a culvert will be replaced in the winter.
Also this July, the Inuvik Airport Access Road and Hospital Hill Drive will undergo reconstruction; farther south, the Dettah Access Road‘s first six kilometres will be resurfaced with chipseal.
Work on Highway 7, including widening the embankment and replacing culverts, does not have a timeline attached to it yet as the project is still in the permitting phase.
The Rae Access Road is also to receive a new gravel surface, but a timeline for that work hasn’t been announced yet.
