Work is expected to begin on the first road into the heart of Canada's mineral-rich tundra after two funding announcements this week by federal Transportation Minister Marc Garneau.
Garneau made more than $50 million available for preliminary studies on and planning for an all-weather road from Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories to the central Arctic coast of Nunavut.
The long-awaited artery would be Nunavut's first road link to southern Canada and it's expected it would dramatically decrease the cost of living for communities in the region.
It would also run past what has been estimated at $45 billion in mineral deposits and would reduce mine development costs.
The entire route would be nearly 700 kilometres long and cost about $1 billion.
The project would include a deep-water port about halfway along the Northwest Passage.
