TUKTOYAKTUK, N.W.T. – Canada’s first permanent road to its Arctic coastline opens this week.
On Wednesday, an official Northwest Territories motorcade will make the inaugural trip down 120 kilometres of brand-new, two-lane, all-weather gravel from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk.
When it arrives, the tiny hamlet on the Beaufort Sea will mark the occasion with speeches, songs, fireworks and a community feast with local favourites including caribou, reindeer, char, whale and muktuk.
Tuk mayor Daniel Nasogaluak says the community is sprucing up the town with a new coat of paint in anticipation of summertime visitors and adding new tourist infrastructure.
But the territory’s infrastructure minister says the long-awaited road is just the start of its highway needs.
Wally Schumann says the Northwest Territories could use a road up the Mackenzie Valley and from Yellowknife into its mineral-rich heart.
He says those investments would benefit all Canadians by making extensive mining developments profitable.