Residents of the stranded town of Churchill could be getting first loads of supplies on a new ice road by Christmas.
Mark Kohaykewych, president of Polar Industries Ltd., said the crews working on the road from Gillam to Churchill are making great progress.
“I’m very optimistic we can get in there by Christmas time,” Kohaykewych said. “We’re well ahead of schedule.”
The construction of the ice road was first announced on Oct. 20. Representatives from Polar Industries Ltd in Winnipeg, Fox Lake Cree Nation and Remote Area Services said they’d work on the road to get supplies to Churchill by January 2018.
READ MORE: Transport Canada ready to move forward with Omnitrax lawsuit over Churchill rail line
The town has been cut off from any ground transportation since May when the rail line was shut down after damage from spring flooding. Over the summer, goods and people were flown in to the community at a much higher cost.
The town of nearly 900 has been a tourist hub for polar bears and beluga whales but saw a drop in visitors since the rail line was closed.
READ MORE: Rail line to Churchill could take two months to repair but Omnitrax won’t pay for $60 M fix
Construction on the 300 kilometre ice road started on Nov. 13 and nearly two thirds of the road has been finished.
“We’ve gotten almost to kilometer 200 and we’ve got another 100 to go,” Kohaykewych said.
The biggest challenge facing the crews working on the road is waiting for the freeze.
“There’s still just with all the creeks and river crossings just pushing the snow in, creating the ice bridges and then just waiting for freeze up. It’s construct, wait, flood, then let mother nature take its course.”
The organizations have yet to receive funding from the provincial or federal governments.
“We’re in talks, but I mean the urgency is there and we’ve got to get something. We’ve got to get some more pressure on the government to get this funding out to us because we’re quickly going to run out of money here and the problem is, if we run out of money then we’re not able to move as quick as we want on this road,” Kohaykewych said.
READ MORE: Feds threaten to force Omnitrax to sell damaged Churchill rail line
The federal government and Omnitrax, the company that owns the rail line, have been wrangling over who is responsible for the repairs.
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