Pending funding, the earliest construction can begin on a permanent solution to avoid landslides putting at risk and shutting down the south access route in and out of downtown Whitehorse is 2026, according to a city manager.
The city, with the help of Yukon government, applied for the federal government’s disaster mitigation and adaptation fund (DMAF), which is intended to provide money for large-scale infrastructure projects to assist communities with managing risks of disasters triggered by natural hazards.
Landslides periodically temporarily forced the closure of Robert Service Way in spring 2022 and 2023. The long-term plan involves realigning the north end of the road by moving it away from the foot of the escarpment. It has yet to get the green light for DMAF.
In fact, no Yukon projects submitted by the Yukon government, municipalities and Indigenous organizations have been approved under the fund, as far as the territorial Community Services department is aware.
The News did not get a response on the matter from Infrastructure Canada by print deadline.
“We’re hopeful that the DMAF funding will come through,” Taylor Eshpeter, the City of Whitehorse’s manager of engineering services, told the News by phone on March 4.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
The city will be working on a backup plan for if the federal disaster-related funding doesn’t come through, although Eshpeter declined to elaborate on the alternative.
Briefing notes prepared for Community Services Minister Richard Mostyn for the 2023 fall sitting of the Yukon Legislative Assembly indicate some applications have been submitted for the Robert Service Way landslides in Whitehorse as well as flood mitigation for Carmacks and Teslin and other applications by the Highways and Public Works department.
Mostyn told the News by phone last week the city oversees mitigating and preparing for landslides and disasters within municipal limits.
“The territorial government stands to assist the city with any help the city may need, as the city manages crises and incidents like this that happen within its boundaries, but the city is the government that is responsible for those emergencies within its boundaries,” he said.
The long-term plan for the south access route is being poised as a major undertaking.
“A permanent solution for Robert Service Way will be one of the largest projects the city has ever undertaken,” per the city’s budget document.
The project is budgeted for in the city’s 2024-27 capital expenditure program.
Subject to external funding approval, the budget document indicates the city is budgeting $3.7 million from 2024 to 2027 for design and construction inspection.
Furthermore, the city’s budget plans for spending more than $30 million in 2026 and $27 million in 2027 for a total of $57.45 million for construction.
Espheter noted the landslide threat during the upcoming melt is difficult to predict.
“We’re starting our preparations, and we always go into it preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,” he said.
Beginning again later in March, Eshpeter said the city will rely on a rented slope scanner to observe movement and predict risks on the escarpment.
“The first few slides were really, really a surprise, you know, two years ago. We’ve certainly come a long way in developing processes for responding to landslides and also risk of landslides,” Eshpeter said.
The city’s communications on getting ready for potential landslides this spring are anticipated to go out later in March, per Eshpeter.
READ MORE: Here’s how the tree clinging onto Whitehorse’s escarpment hangs on
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com