Isolated Canadians welcome highway linking country's south to Arctic Ocean
Conceived in the 1960s, the first all-season highway to forge the connection will open on Wednesday morning: ‘It’s going to be a total impact’
Jesse Winter in Toronto
Wednesday 15 November 2017 11.47 EST
For most of her life, if Laverna Smith wanted a fresh cut of beef, she had to board a plane to fetch it from the nearest butcher. But as of this week, she will be able to hop in her truck and drive there any day of the year – although it will still be a round trip of 276km.
Canada’s first all-season highway linking the country’s south to the Arctic Ocean officially opens on Wednesday at 6am. The $300m gravel road stretches from the regional hub of Inuvik to the coastal hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories.
It will trace a warm line across the tundra, making it the country’s only driveable north-west passage to the sea.
Smith hopes the new road will put an end to the isolation sometimes felt by the 800 inhabitants of “Tuk”.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/14/canada-highway-tuktoyaktuk-remote-towns
