Plan for Nunavut-Manitoba road almost ready: Nunavut official

The business plan for an all-weather road linking Nunavut and northern Manitoba is nearly complete, meaning construction could begin in the next five years.

Plans to build the 1,200-kilometre road are currently on track, Nunavut transportation officials toldbusiness leaders at the Kivalliq Chamber of Commerce meeting this week in Rankin Inlet.

"We're working with Manitoba and the Kivalliq Inuit Association, and we're working to complete the business case study," Alan Johnson, the Nunavut government's manager of transportation planning, told CBC News on Wednesday.

"It's 80 per cent complete, it will be completed in a couple months. And with that study, then we're able to advance the program to the next stage."

Johnson said the next stage will be to conduct a detailed routing study for the Nunavut-Manitoba road.

Once built, the road is expected to start in Gillam, Man., connecting through Churchill and then up to the Nunavut communities of Arviat, Whale Cove and Rankin Inlet.

Officials say the road is expected to cost about $1.2 billion.