After years of pushing from municipal governments on Haida Gwaii, the stretch of Highway 16 between Masset and Port Clements will be repaved in the coming months.
Work on approximately 44 kilometres of the highway is scheduled to start in early May, the last section of Highway 16 to be upgraded with new asphalt on Haida Gwaii.
Andrew Merilees, mayor of the Village of Masset, said the stretch of highway has been "well travelled" and said Masset has been calling on the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to repave it for four or five years.
"They've been promising to get ours done, so we're very happy it is finally being repaved," Merilees said.
The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure told the Northern View "this resurfacing work will extend the life of the highway, protecting and strengthening the road infrastructure to provide safer driving conditions for residents, businesses and commercial users".
The ministry awarded the $5.7 million project contract to Adventure Paving, a division of YCS Holdings Ltd. in Prince Rupert.
The project is expected to be complete in July.
But Merilees said before the contractors leave Haida Gwaii they will pave the parking lot and entrance way into the new airport terminal building in Masset on the village's dime, although it will save money as the village won't have to pay to bring the contractors over to do the work at a later date.