Whitehorse contractor wins Inuvik road job
Maria Canton
Northern News Services
Inuvik (May 04/01) - More than half a million dollars in pavement and chip seal will be laid on Inuvik roads this summer.
Upwards of 10 areas in town have been slated to reap the benefits of new surfaces this summer in the first year of a multi-year paving project.
Inuvik's town council passed a motion to award a $575,170 paving tender to Whitehorse-based contractor Skookum at last Wednesday's council meeting.
One local business, Arctic Tire, submitted a proposal, but later withdrew from the process because they didn't have appropriate equipment, said the town's senior administrative officer, Jerry Veltman.
"The town hasn't spent much on road maintenance in the last few years and now the roads are in need of repairs," said Veltman. "This is really catch-up work."
Until this year, the town has been spending between $100,000 and $200,000 on road maintenance.
However, for the next three to four years, says Veltman, at least half a million dollars will be spent each year. The contract will be tendered on a year-to-year basis.
According to Dennis Althouse, director of public services for the town, most of the work will go into repaving intersections and some larger stretches of road.
Slated for extensive work are Dolphin Street, Kugmallit Road and Natala Drive. The entire outer loop of Ptarmigan Hill will be chip-sealed again. "It's mainly junctions right now that will be getting a lot of work -- a lot of the areas are in very poor condition," said Althouse.
"This year is catch-up, but it should put us in good shape for the next few years."
Pavement has a life expectancy of 15 to 20 years.
