Inuvik to Tuk highway: building a road to prosperity – Northern Journal

November 17, 2014

Heading into its second season of construction, work on the 138-km highway from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk is already bringing economic benefits to the local communities, proponents say.

From now until spring, hundreds of surveyors, equipment operators and labourers – many of whom actually reside in the territory – will roll out to the highway from their nearby workcamps, stopping at local stores to buy coffee, breakfast, cigarettes and whatever else they might need to get them through the long day of working outdoors in harsh winter conditions.

“It’s going to be a good Christmas for everybody this year for sure,” said Merven Gruben, former mayor of Tuktoyaktuk and vice president of E. Gruben’s Transport, one of two construction companies working in conjunction on the $299-million project.

Gruben’s partners at Northwind Industries in Inuvik agree.