Seven sections of the North Klondike Highway north of Carmacks will receive $157 million in upgrades before 2027, thanks to federal funding.

“This is brand-new money for the territory; this is money that we have never had access to before,” Richard Mostyn, the Yukon’s minister of Highways and Public Works, told a press conference held Wednesday morning at the Yukon Transportation Museum.

Mostyn called the venture “one of the largest single capital project spends in Yukon history.”

The highway will be widened and completely rebuilt in some sections, focusing on “critical portions” beginning with resurfacing the area between Carmacks and the Dempster Highway cutoff, south of Dawson City.

Bridges at McClade and Moose Creeks will be widened and the bridge at Crooked Creek will be replaced entirely. 

The extensive updates are necessary, Mostyn said, in part because of the rapid change in climate. 

“We aren’t seeing prolonged bouts of 40 below like we used to; we’re seeing rain in the middle of November,” Mostyn said.

“We have to change the way we’re creating the roads, putting down more fill, more gravel salts. We’re having to adapt already.” 

The road upgrades coincide with an expected economic jump of eight per cent for the territory, according to the Conference Board of Canada. That’s due in part to the opening of the Eagle Gold Mine 85 kilometres northeast of Mayo and the beginning of construction at the Coffee Gold Mine 130 kilometres south of Dawson.

There are no plans to abolish necessary weight restrictions on the highway, but Mostyn said the intention is to raise weight limits and reduce the times at which limits are imposed.

The federal government is providing $118 million for the project from the National Trade Corridors Fund, a block of cash devoted to addressing transportation issues affecting global trade and transportation routes. The Yukon government is contributing $39 million.

Yukon MP Larry Bagnell called the funding “massively more than we would normally get” from the federal government, with $400 million being allotted to the North out of a $2-billion fund. 

“The highway is really in great shape right now,” Mostyn said. “But this is not about maintaining, (because) the foundations of the road are really no good.”

The Yukon government expects to break ground on the highway next year. The project is slated for completion in 2027. 

The official Opposition Yukon Party questions the Liberals’ track record of following through on major infrastructure promises.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the party referenced the promised June 2018 start of the Resource Gateway Project, which it notes has not broken ground. It centres around improving road access to mineral-rich areas of the territory.

“The Liberals are very good at making announcements, but they don’t seem to realize that governing doesn’t stop at the photo-op,” said Scott Kent, the party’s mining critic. 

“While today’s announcement is a good one, the Liberals have a very poor track record when it comes to actually delivering.”

The opposition also criticized the Liberals’ lack of funding for upgrades to the Shakwak portion of the Alaska Highway in western Yukon.

“When we asked the Liberals to seek funding for Shakwak in addition to the North Klondike, the minister (Mostyn) claimed that the road does not benefit Yukoners,” Kent said.

“The Liberals need to place a higher priority on supporting highways throughout all of Yukon, not just in Liberal-held ridings.”