All-season road to What named Tch Highway, or Highway 9

A new all-season road that will provide year-round access to What, N.W.T.,will be known as the Tch Highway, or Highway 9, the Northwest Territories and Tch governments announced in a joint news release Tuesday afternoon.

Set to open in the fall of 2021, the road will also increase access to the winter roads to Gamt and Wekwet.

"Formerly known as the Tch All-Season Road, the new name underscores the importance of this new highway for the Tch region," the newsrelease states.

The Public Highways Act has been updated to reflect the new official name, the statement adds.

The winter roads to Gamt and Wekwet can only open after the winter road to What, which is vulnerable to fluctuatingconditions, has opened, the release states.

It said the all-season road to What will likely result in the winter roads to Gamt and Wekweet opening sooner and closing later.

"The new highway will help reduce the cost of living for the region and support new social opportunities, while helping attract further interest from industry in the exploration and development of natural resources," the release says.

Construction of the all-weather road began in September 2019. To date, the project has employed 256people, including109 local residents, and9,599 hours of local job training has taken place, the governments say. Ninety-seven kilometres of right-of-way clearing have been completed, 85 kilometres of embankment have been built, and 48 bridge piles have been installed.

Road is result of partnership

Tch Grand Chief George Mackenziesaid in a statement that the road "is the result of many years of planning, partnerships and hard work by former and present leaders and our collective governments.

"This is the way any projects on Indigenous land should be developed. Our partnership with the[government of the Northwest Territories] and Kiewit has been a great success for our people and companies, and there is great potential for future projects in our region," he says.

The news release said infrastructure projects like the Tch Highwaywill continue to play a significant part in the COVID-19 economic recovery.

"Not only do such projects inject money into the economy, they also provide business and employment opportunities for residents, while delivering the critical infrastructure the NWTneeds," the release reads.

Diane Archie, N.W.T. Minister of Infrastructure, said that "working in partnership with Indigenous governments is a normal part of how the GNWT does business."