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Roads destroyed by flood to get fixed

Road repairs announced for Nahanni Butte in a federal-territorial infrastructure announcement earlier this month are “sorely needed,” said a hamlet official.

Nahanni Butte's roads have been in poor shape since the summer of 2012, when the community completely flooded, causing almost everyone to evacuate. NNSL file photo

Nahanni Butte senior administrative officer Mark Pocklington said the town’s roads have been in poor shape since the summer of 2012, when the community completely flooded, causing almost everyone to evacuate.

Some of the biggest issues residents have been having are with puddles pooling on the road, and Pocklington says re-contouring should fix that. The repairs, which include upgrades to roads and ditches, installation of culverts and infill, are slated to start in May or June, said Pocklington – as soon as the ground is thawed enough for the work.

“(The repairs will) make sure it’s safe and there’s good community access and all that,” said Pocklington. “It was very good that they could put that together”

Paid for mostly by the territorial and federal governments, the repairs have a budget of $250,000.

Other projects in this latest infrastructure announcement, made on January 11 by Michael McLeod in Behchoko, include a new youth centre in Colville Lake ($250,000), a new sewage vacuum truck in Wrigley ($179,700) and a cold storage garage in Trout Lake ($175,000).

Community officials in these communities weren’t available for interview by press time.

By far, the largest chunk of money in this new announcement is the combined $95,500,000 of federal, territorial and community money going towards rehabilitation projects on Highways 1, 3, 4, 7, and 8, as well as various community access and winter roads.

The Government of Canada is paying for $72,123,000 for these various projects through its Small Communities Fund, the GNWT is putting in $28,875,000 and local community governments have pitched a total of $354,700.

“With the announcement of these projects we are proud to say that all 33 communities in the NWT have now received approval for their Small Communities Fund projects,” stated Caroline Cochrane, minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, in a press release.