Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my questions are for the Minister of Infrastructure, and it's on the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway. Mr. Speaker, recently the department closed the road due to soft and rutted areas that could be a risk to the travelling public and to prevent further damage to the highway. Mr. Speaker, my first question to the Minister is: why did the Department of Infrastructure open an unfinished road? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway was deemed substantially completed on the 15th of November of last year, and over the winter we experienced an average daily traffic count of 60 to 70 vehicles per day throughout the whole season without any issues. The work that is being performed and carried out on the highway this summer and fall is the contract work that has to be completed under the terms and conditions of the contract to correct all deficiencies noted during the final inspection of the highway. That was when we did that, last year, so this work is expected to be completed by the fall of this year.
I understand, you know, construction of a gravel road on permafrost sometimes requires some time to settle before it dries up, and I appreciate the response from the Minister. Mr. Speaker, my question is: how many days of additional road access did the hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk gain with the opening of the Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk Highway?
Based on a 20-year average of opening and closing of the Inuvik winter road, we gained 45 days of access to the community of Tuktoyaktuk this year, with the winter road opening in November of last year to May 12th of this year. As all Members know, this has been a concern in the media lately, but one thing that people have to know is that this road is still under construction and we are working on it. The other thing that I always like to make very prevalent about this whole thing is that this highway was constructed in one of the harshest environments in Canada, and our contractors did a heck of a job in building this road, and we believe it will open to the general public here very soon.
I appreciate the response. Mr. Speaker, I am just going to get right to it here. My next question for the Minister is: what are we doing to make sure this does not happen next year?
As I said, the contractors have some deficiencies and some works to finish up on the terms of their contract going forward. We have some gravel to lay down, some packing to be completed; there are a number of things to be done around bridges, rip-wrap and painting and such, so these things are going to be completed this year, as I said, in the fall of this year.
There are some lessons learned already to be taken from the season that we just had it open. With the different amounts of snow where it has accumulated along the embankments, we have already recognized the fact that we need to put up some snow fencing in certain areas of the highway to help mitigate that. I think one of the other concerns that we want to address in the next coming season is certain sections of the highway where the accumulation is so big that grading is not going to be sufficient, and we have to look at snow-blowing this stuff further away, similar to what we do on the Dempster. We will be looking at different additives, as well, I think, to help with the gravel and how to shed water off the highway, and we will continue to look at improvements to make sure we keep this thing open as long as possible. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nunakput.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is good for the general public to know, and I appreciate the work the department is doing. I know how challenging it is, as being an employee of that maybe five years, four years ago.
Mr. Speaker, my final question to the Minister: what work remains, and will there be further closures? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As I've said, there is a full layer of gravel and it needs to be laid down on some sections, and compacting that needs to be done this year. Some of this work wasn't done in the fall of last year due to the early cold temperatures, when that type of work can't be performed. There will be additional signage that needs to be installed around there, shaping of embankments in different places along the highway system, and deficiencies and final inspection, and like I said, some work around the bridges and culverts that needs to be finished up.
People have to realize that this is a new highway. We are working very hard to get this thing open. As the other Member from the BeauDel has mentioned, you know, this is going to be important to tourism going forward, and the department is working very hard along with our contractors to make sure we get this thing in shape and that it's safe to the open public to use. We'll continue to work on that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
