The federal government is giving a seven-kilometre stretch of the Alaska Highway between Muncho Lake and Liard Hot Springs provincial parks a facelift.
Public Services and Procurement Canada is realigning the section of highway between kilometres 743 and 750, easing out sharp corners and smoothing the road to meet current highway standards.
George Smith, manager of Alaska Highway maintenance for the portion that’s under federal jurisdiction, estimates the job is 20 to 25 per cent complete.
The upgrades are long overdue, he said.
“It’s leftover from the army days, like from 1942, and while it’s been covered with a chip seal, it’s still got curves and hills and dips,” Smith said.
“Some of those curves are 30-kilometre or 50-kilometre curves. There’s been a few incidents on those spots.”
Construction began April 1 and is scheduled to be complete in October. Colbalt Construction Inc., based in Whitehorse, holds the $13.8-million contract.
Since it was built in 1942, upgrades to the highway have shortened it by more than 250 kilometres. Initial construction was hasty, with very little time for planning. The highway was a notoriously winding highway.
The federal government maintains the Highway from kilometre 133 north of Fort St. John up to the B.C.-Yukon border.
Other work on the highway includes asphalt conversion on a two-kilometre section north of Wonowon, set for completion in September, and ongoing reconstruction of a 17-kilometre stretch near Tetsa River Regional Park, due to be complete in July.
