Premier Ranj Pillai and Minister of Highways and Public Works Nils Clarke. Photo Courtesy of Macklen Linke/CKRW.
Whitehorse, YT – The Government of Alaska is providing over $42.6 million to pave the way to address critical infrastructure upgrades and maintenance on a large stretch of the Alaska Highway in the Yukon which serves as a vital transportation route for both Yukon communities and Alaskans.
This new funding targets a 222.5km stretch of the Alaska Highway from Destruction Bay to the U.S. border and is provided through the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). This funding follows a Memorandum of Understanding, reaffirming commitments to improving highway infrastructure, signed by Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy in early February.
Highway work will involve resurfacing, repairing the road structure beneath the surface, upgrading culverts, and enhancing drainage systems. Minister of Highways and Public Works, Nils Clarke, says that much of the necessary work is in response to a warming climate.
“The effects of climate change and permafrost thaw have made the need for significant additional funding for this roadway evident in recent years,” said Minister Clarke. “The permafrost-affected areas of the North Alaska Highway between Destruction Bay and the U.S.-Canada border are a telling example of this with that area particularly affected resulting in uneven road surfaces with bumps and cracks.”
Yukon Party MLA for Kluane, Wade Istchenko, says the new funding is welcome but outlined the need for the Yukon Government to provide proper equipment and staff to ensure fewer temporary closures on other critical roads like Haines Road.
Collaboration between Yukon and Alaska on Alaska Highway upgrades and maintenance dates back to the Shakwak Agreement signed in 1977. The U.S. stopped providing funding through that agreement in 2015 which Yukon Premier Ranj Pillai says left the Yukon Government working to find solutions.
“The key right now is the fact that this has been 10 years of previous governments looking at different solutions to try to make sure that there were funds in place,” said Premier Pillai, adding that, “there’s always been a perspective that there’s an obligation by the U.S. government.”
Premier Pillai says that working to strengthen the relationship between Yukon and Alaska is key in ensuring that U.S. funding for Alaska Highway work remains consistent in the future.
