The B.C. and federal governments are providing $195 million for a series of highway improvements in Tahltan Nation territory in the province’s northwest to enhance road safety and reliability.
The project will provide a series of improvements for Highway 37, including widening shoulders, creating pullouts for slow-moving vehicles, adding chain up/chain off areas, and increasing Wi-Fi access along 800 kilometres of roadway.
Work will also include Highway 37A, which provides access to Canada’s northernmost ice-free port, in Stewar, and Highway 51, connecting Telegraph Creek to Dease Lake and Highway 37.
“Our three Tahltan communities have struggled for generations with safe passage – via highways 37 and 51 – to southern communities where our people depend on the everyday facets of life, including emergency health care, food, and other everyday necessities often taken for granted by many residents of B.C. Resource development must result in the betterment of First Nation communities. While we applaud this announcement, there is more work to do, not only in Tahltan territory, but elsewhere in the province,” said Chief Carmen McPhee, Tahltan Band.
The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure provided $120 million of the funding for this project. The federal government contributed $75 million through the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund.
“Safety is our number 1 priority,” said Rob Fleming, minister of transportation and infrastructure. “That’s why we are improving transportation infrastructure to support the safe and efficient movement of people and goods in remote B.C. communities, improve access for industrial development, and support community resiliency and reconciliation with First Nations communities.”
Scoping and site preparation for the Northwest BC Highway Corridor Improvements Project is expected to begin in late summer 2024.
The Northwest BC Highway Corridor Improvements Project is a key action of B.C.’s Critical Minerals Strategy, a top priority for the Tahltan Central Government and the mining industry in B.C. and a shared priority of the federal government.
