$248M in upgrades coming to Whitehorse airport including runway rebuild

The federal and Yukon governments are together investing more than $248 million into work at the airport in Whitehorse with the bulk of the money being spent on rebuilding themain runway.

Yukon's minister of Highways and Public Works, Nils Clarke, said in a media statement on Friday that the workwould ensurethe airport continues to meet the needs of the territory.

The Yukon government is contributing $62 million toward the overall work, while the federal government is putting in more than $186 million.

Clarke said $160 million from the total funding would go toward the runway replacement, anda contract had been signed with Flatiron Construction for thework. The rest, he said, is allocated for other "critical improvements" that are still being planned like additional lighting on the runway.

Clarke said the runway replacement is a large project, but disruption to the public was expected to be minimal.

A second runway was expected to be extended and upgraded in 2022. That work was intended solarger planes could use the second runway while there was maintenance, snow-removal or de-icing happening on the main runway.