First phase of Prohibition Creek Access Road opens near Norman Wells

The first phase of the Prohibition Creek Access Road (PCAR) is complete and open for public use, the GNWT Department of Infrastructure announced in a news release on Sept. 9

The new all-season, two-lane highway spans 6.7 kilometres from Canyon Creek to Christina Creek, south of the community of Norman Wells. 

The construction of the first phase of the PCAR, which commenced in 2022, cost $25.5 million. During the busiest period of construction, the project employed 95 workers, including 61 from the Sahtu and 12 residents from other regions of the Northwest Territories. 

Along with the previously built Canyon Creek All-Season Access Road, there is now a total of 20.7 kilometres of all-season road in the area.

According to the GNWT's news release, completion of the first phase of the PCAR not only improved "safety, reliability and resilience of the Northwest Territories transportation system in the face of climate change," but provided "essential training and experience for future infrastructure projects, such as the much-anticipated Mackenzie Valley Highway (MVH)," a long-discussed all-season highway that would connect the Sahtu region to the rest of Canada.

The second phase of the PCAR "will be constructed as part of the future Mackenzie Valley Highway project," the news release stated. 

“The Prohibition Creek Access Road, like the Canyon Creek All-Season Access Road before it, not only supports the ongoing improvement of the key transportation corridor through the Mackenzie Valley it is also a capacity-building project to help prepare businesses, workers and residents for greater involvement in future construction of the Mackenzie Valley Highway," GNWT Infrastructure Minister Caroline Wawzonek stated. "PCAR phase one construction provided nearly 2,600 hours of training in various roles, including truck driving, surveying, drilling and blasting operations. These skills will be directly transferable when the Mackenzie Valley Highway advances."

Sahtu MLA Daniel McNeely believes the completion of the first phase of the PCAR is a step in the right direction, but contends it will not be enough to curb the region's soaring cost of living, which has grown so out of control that Norman Wells council members are considering declaring a state of emergency.

The only thing that will accomplish that, the MLA said, is the completion of the full MVH. 

“Every kilometre constructed matters, but we cannot afford to maintain this schedule," McNeely told NNSL Media. "The high cost of living is unbearable. The need for the Mackenzie Valley Highway is now.”