Garson Lake Road Bridge at the La Loche River

Highway 956, also known as the Garson Lake Road, is a

provincial highway Numbered highways in Canada are split by province, and a majority are maintained by their province or territory transportation department. All highways in Canada are numbered except for three in the Northwest Territories, one in Alberta, one in O ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. It runs from the

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

border until Highway 155. The highway is 44 km (27 mi.) long. Highway 956 is meant to connect the community of

La Loche La Loche () is a village in northwest Saskatchewan. It is located at the end of Highway 155 on the eastern shore of Lac La Loche in Canada's boreal forest. La Loche had a population of 2,827 in 2016 and is within the Northern Saskatchewan Admini ...

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significant ...

. Beyond the Alberta border, the same route continues west as the 65-km La Loche Winter Trail

winter road A winter road is a seasonal road only usable during the winter, i.e. it has to be re-built every year. This road typically runs over land and over frozen lakes, rivers, swamps, and sea ice.Proskin et al, 2011. Guidelines for the Construction an ...

Alberta Highway 881 Alberta Provincial Highway No. 881, commonly referred to as Highway 881, is a highway split into two sections in northeast Alberta, Canada. Each section is over in length; the southern portion runs from Highway 13 in Hardisty to ...

, about 25 km south of

Anzac, Alberta Anzac is a hamlet in northern Alberta, Canada within the Regional Municipality (RM) of Wood Buffalo. It is located on Highway 881 along the east shore of Gregoire Lake, approximately southeast of Fort McMurray. History Anzac was named for t ...

and about 75 km south of Fort McMurray.

History

*Construction began in 1986 and completed in 1999. *In 1999, as part of the Saskatchewan provincial budget, a project was begun to gravel 30 km of Highway 956. *In September 2005, to celebrate the centennials of Saskatchewan and Alberta, Saskatchewan Premier

Lorne Calvert Lorne Albert Calvert (born December 24, 1952) was the 13th premier of Saskatchewan, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert served as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2001 to June 6, 2009, when he was succeeded by Dwain Lingenfelter. Ear ...

and Alberta Premier

Ralph Klein Ralph Philip Klein (November 1, 1942 – March 29, 2013) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 12th premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 20 ...

announced a project costing $45 million to connect La Loche and Fort McMurray with an all-season road. The premiers explained that this would create economic and recreational opportunities, as well as improved access to services and schools. *A crushing project and two clearing projects had been initiated by the time the 2006–07 Saskatchewan Mid-Year Report was released. They were expected to be completed by the end of 2006. *By May 2006, work began on improving Highway 956 as a joint project by the Alberta and Saskatchewan governments to connect La Loche and Fort McMurray.

References

956 Year 956 ( CMLVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * Summer – Emperor Constantine VII appoints Nikephoros Phokas to commander of the ...

{{Saskatchewan-road-stub

History

See also

References