The company building a winter road to the stranded town of Churchill hopes to have it done by Christmas.
According to Springfield, Man.-based Polar Industries, just over 200 km of the planned road has been built between Churchill and an area near Gillam.
Construction on the road began on Nov. 13.
Workers are using heavy equipment to build the road and are sleeping in trapper cabins along the route.
Churchill has been cut off from land transport since May, when portions of the rail line heading into the community were destroyed by overland flooding. The owners of the railway, Colorado-based Omnitrax, have refused to repair the rail line, leading to an ongoing political and legal dispute between the company and federal and provincial governments over who must pay to fix it.
Since the rail line shutdown, Churchill has only been accessible by air and water. Goods and products have been either flown or shipped into the community, leading to high costs for the town’s 900 residents.
On Dec. 1, federal natural resources minister Jim Carr pledged $2.7 million in funding to Churchill to provide financial assistance to the local economy. The funds will be going to the Churchill and Region Economic Development Fund, a fund created to assist Churchill after the shutdown of the town’s port last year. There is still no word on when repairs to the rail line will begin.
