Trans-Labrador Highway

File:Trans Labrador highway in Division No. 10, Subd. D, NL, Canada.jpg, Subdivision D, NL in 2010]]

The original TLH from Labrador West (Labrador City/Wabush) to Happy Valley-Goose Bay was completed in 1992.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.nl.ca/publicat/LabradorRecord/infra.html|title = The Labrador Record - Infrastructure}}[http://www.labradorwest.com/default.php?display=cid1239&mid=70 History of Labrador City] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606225531/http://www.labradorwest.com/default.php?display=cid1239&mid=70 |date=2014-06-06 }}, LabradorWest.com, Retrieved February 7, 2011{{cite web |title=Labrador mayors push for highway commitments |date=2005-12-14 |website=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230411230635/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/labrador-mayors-push-for-highway-commitments-1.568825 |archive-date=2023-04-11 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/labrador-mayors-push-for-highway-commitments-1.568825}} Some sections were poorly built or in need of upgrades due to increased traffic use, particularly the section between Churchill Falls and Happy Valley-Goose Bay. In the summer of 1999, $60 million was allocated to upgrade the highway as part of the "Labrador Transportation Initiative".{{cite web|url=http://conf.tac-atc.ca/english/resourcecentre/readingroom/conference/conf2003/pdfs/jin.pdf|title=Bridges on the Trans Labrador Highway|website=tac-atc.ca|access-date=30 July 2023}}

The Phase I section of the TLH began undergoing paving operations in 2009;{{cite web | url=https://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2009/tw/0806n06.htm | title=Trans Labrador Highway Being Fast-Tracked }} by October 2011, a stretch of approximately {{convert|140|km|mi|abbr=on}} leading east from Labrador West had been paved, as well approximately {{convert|100|km|mi|abbr=on}} heading west from Goose Bay towards Churchill Falls.{{cite web | url=https://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2012/tw/0523n04.htm | title=Ministerial Statement - Final Tenders Awarded for Phase I of Trans Labrador Highway }}{{cite web |title=Trans-Labrador Highway woes detailed by AG |date=2012-01-27 |website=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417032332/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/trans-labrador-highway-woes-detailed-by-ag-1.1189733 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/trans-labrador-highway-woes-detailed-by-ag-1.1189733}} The entire Phase I section of the TLH was completed in 2015.{{cite web|title=Tenders Called for More Paving on Phase I of Trans Labrador Highway|url=http://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2011/tw/0223n02.htm|publisher=Transportation and Works|access-date=26 April 2011}}{{cite web |title=Humber Valley Paving should've paid penalty, Lisa Dempster says |date=2014-05-01 |website=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417013119/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/humber-valley-paving-should-ve-paid-penalty-lisa-dempster-says-1.2628419 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/humber-valley-paving-should-ve-paid-penalty-lisa-dempster-says-1.2628419}}{{cite web |title=Labrador paving project won't be on time or budget |date=2014-06-12 |website=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412013016/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/labrador-paving-project-won-t-be-on-time-or-budget-1.2673028 |archive-date=2023-04-12 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/labrador-paving-project-won-t-be-on-time-or-budget-1.2673028}}{{cite web |title=Smooth driving on Trans-Labrador Highway from HVGB to Lab West |date=2015-06-30 |website=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417032330/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/smooth-driving-on-trans-labrador-highway-from-hvgb-to-lab-west-1.3133338 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/smooth-driving-on-trans-labrador-highway-from-hvgb-to-lab-west-1.3133338#:~:text=After%20its%20fair%20share%20of%20controversy%20and%20flat,scheduled%20to%20be%20complete%20in%20August%202014.%20%28CBC%29}}{{cite web |title=Paving of Trans-Labrador Highway will remain unfinished until 2015 |date=2014-10-28 |website=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417005310/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/paving-of-trans-labrador-highway-will-remain-unfinished-until-2015-1.2814675 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/paving-of-trans-labrador-highway-will-remain-unfinished-until-2015-1.2814675}}

In 1997, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador committed to building an extension of the TLH, connecting Happy Valley-Goose Bay with an existing isolated road network serving coastal communities on the Strait of Belle Isle.{{cite web | url=https://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/1997/wst/1202n02.htm | title=Ministerial Statement - Early tenders for projects funded under Labrador Transportation Initiative Fund }} The impetus for this project was the federal government's desire to cut costs and remove itself from subsidizing coastal ferry service to Labrador outports which was being provided by the federal Crown corporation Marine Atlantic.{{cite web |title=Access to Trans-Labrador Highway has been 'double-edged sword,' Cartwright mayor |date=2015-06-19 |website=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417061111/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/access-to-trans-labrador-highway-has-been-double-edged-sword-cartwright-mayor-1.3118416 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/access-to-trans-labrador-highway-has-been-double-edged-sword-cartwright-mayor-1.3118416}}

These federal cuts were completed in 1997, under the moniker Labrador Transportation Initiative, when an agreement was signed which saw the federal government transfer ownership and operation of two ferry vessels, along with C$340 million for extending Labrador's road network.{{cite web | url=https://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/1997/exec/0403n01.htm | title=Government announces construction of Trans Labrador Highway }} A key component to this plan was $150 million to upgrade coastal Labrador marine services, including a newer high-capacity ferry for the St. Barbe-Blanc Sablon service across the Strait of Belle Isle.

File:Trans-Labrador Highway Route 500.jpg

Phase II of new construction, costing $130 million, began in 1999 and saw Route 510 extended {{convert|323|km|mi|abbr=on}} over four years from its terminus in Red Bay northeast to the port of Cartwright.{{cite web | url=https://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/1997/labrador/1127n04.htm | title=Ministerial Statement - Labrador Transportation Initiative Fund }}{{cite web | url=https://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/1999/wst/1103n04.htm | title=Major contracts awarded for next phase of Red Bay to Cartwright Highway }}{{cite web | url=https://www.budget.gov.nl.ca/Budget2000/economy/construction.htm | title=The Economy - Construction }}{{cite web|url=https://www.canlii.org/en/nl/laws/regu/nlr-39-99/latest/nlr-39-99.html|title=Red Bay to Cartwright Road Approval of Construction Order, NLR 39/99|website=canlii.org|access-date=30 July 2023}} This section was paved as far as Cartwright Junction, the unpaved remainder (to Cartwright) being designated Highway 516.

Phase III is a {{convert|250|km|mi|abbr=on}} section of Route 510 built for $130 million south of Lake Melville/Hamilton Inlet to connect Cartwright Junction ({{convert|94|km|mi|abbr=on}} south west of Cartwright) with Happy Valley-Goose Bay, completed sufficiently to open to traffic as a gravel road on 16 December 2009.{{cite web | url=https://www.releases.gov.nl.ca/releases/2009/tw/1216n07.htm | title=Ministerial Statement - Trans Labrador Highway Phase III Now Open � Connecting Labrador West, Through Lake Melville, to Southern Labrador }}{{cite web |title=Trans-Labrador Highway now connected |date=2009-12-09 |website=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417034121/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/trans-labrador-highway-now-connected-1.776173 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/trans-labrador-highway-now-connected-1.776173}} During 2010, two permanent bridges, road surface work, signage, and guardrails were completed at a cost of $15 million. The road was then paved except for {{convert|36|km|mi|abbr=on}} from Cartwright Junction westward to Paradise Heights (the divide between the basins of the Paradise River and the Eagle River).{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/@52.9924889,-57.9858489,3a,75y,56.99h,90.71t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sHT9rpv4pglCbdT-w1KB-NQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 |title = Google Maps}}{{cite web | url=https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2020/exec/0417n03/ | title=Provincial Government Preparing for Road Construction Season | date=17 April 2020 }} The remainder was completed in July 2022.{{cite web |url=https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/governments-of-canada-and-newfoundland-and-labrador-investing-over-50-million-in-support-of-26-public-infrastructure-projects-across-the-province-855670789.html |title = Governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador investing over $50 million in support of 26 public infrastructure projects across the province}}{{cite web | url=http://ntv.ca/trans-labrador-highway-paving-complete/ | title=Trans-Labrador Highway paving complete | date=5 July 2022 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/final-stretch-of-roadwork-clews-up-to-complete-25-year-trans-labrador-highway-project-100750303/ | title=Final stretch of roadwork clews up to complete 25-year Trans-Labrador Highway project | SaltWire }}

Phase II involved completion of highway north to Cartwright from Red Bay, and was opened in 2002. Although the entire route was initially designated as Route 510, upon completion of Phase III, the northern {{convert|94|km|mi|abbr=on}} from Cartwright Junction (to Cartwright) was designated as Route 516.

Phase II also included other branch routes:

• Route 513 to St. Lewis
• Route 514 to Charlottetown and Pinsent Arm

A segment of Quebec Route 138 extends from Old Fort, Quebec to the Newfoundland and Labrador border connecting with Route 510 near Blanc-Sablon on the eastern end of the Côte-Nord.{{Cite web|url=http://tlhwy.com/travelogues/aug2003south/lab05.html|title=Labrador 2003 - Page 5|website=tlhwy.com}} A gap remains between Kegashka and Old Fort, through isolated communities accessible only by coastal ferry.{{cite web | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2016/10/24/route-138-saving-quebecs-forgotten-people | title=Canada's vanishing villages along the Lower North Shore }}{{cite web |title=Often-isolated Labrador Straits region would welcome 3rd route from Quebec |date=2019-05-01 |website=CBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417065742/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/route-138-proposal-labrador-straits-1.5116468 |archive-date=2023-04-17 |url-status=live |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/route-138-proposal-labrador-straits-1.5116468}} On August 25, 2006, the Quebec government announced a 10-year project to connect the two segments by building 425 km of highway along the Lower North Shore. As of 2022, the highway has not been completed.{{cite web | url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/delegation-heads-to-ottawa-to-seek-funds-to-extend-route-138-in-eastern-quebec | title=Delegation heads to Ottawa to seek funds to extend Route 138 in eastern Quebec }}{{cite web | url=https://www.canada.ca/en/office-infrastructure/news/2020/12/canada-and-quebec-support-development-of-the-highway-system-in-the-basse-cote-nord-regioneast-of-nitassinan.html | title=Canada and Quebec Support Development of the Highway System in the Basse-Côte-Nord Region/East of Nitassinan | date=14 December 2020 }}

File:Route 500 Churchill Falls - Labrador City.jpg

File:Route 500 Fleuve Churchill.jpg

{{NLinttop}}

{{Jctint

|location=none

|lspan=2

|km=0

|mspan=2

|road={{jct|province=QC|Route|389|dir1=south|city1=Fermont|city2=Baie-Comeau}}

|notes=Services {{cvt|3|km|0}} to the south in Fermont.

}}

{{Jctplace

|km=none

|place=Quebec border

}}

{{NLint

|location=Labrador City

|km=17

|km2=19

|road=

|notes=All services

}}

{{NLint

|location=Wabush

|km=21

|road={{jct|province=NL|NL|503|dir1=south|location1=Wabush Airport|extra=airport}}

|notes=

}}

{{NLint

|location=none

|lspan=5

|km=58

|road=spring

|notes=Drinking water (at your own risk)

}}

{{NLint

|km=61

|road=[https://www.facebook.com/pages/Grande-Hermine-Campground/669190269824028 Grande Hermine Campground]

|notes=Campground

}}

{{NLint

|km=140

|road=Highway maintenance centre

|notes=N/A

}}

{{Jctbridge

|km=239

|mspan=2

|bridge=Crosses the Churchill River

}}

{{Jctint

|km=none

|road=Rest stop – Bowdoin Canyon Trail (Churchill Falls)

|notes=Parking, garbage bin

}}

{{NLint

|location=Churchill Falls

|km=261

|km2=263

|road={{jct|province=NL|extra=airport|location1=Churchill Falls Airport}}

|notes=All services

}}

{{NLint

|location=none

|lspan=5

|km=403

|road=Highway maintenance centre

|notes=N/A

}}

{{NLint

|km=424

|road=Workers camp

|notes=N/A

}}

{{NLint

|km=465

|road=Rest stop

|notes=Garbage bin

}}

{{NLint

|km=506

|road=Rest stop

|notes=Garbage bin and picnic table

}}

{{NLint

|type=trans

|km=538

|road={{jct|province=NL|NL|510|dir1=south|city1=Port Hope Simpson|nolink1=yes}}

|notes=Trans-Labrador Highway follows Route 510

}}

{{NLint

|location=Happy Valley-Goose Bay

|km=543

|road={{jct|province=NL|NL|520|location1=CFB Goose Bay|city2=North West River|extra=airport}}

|notes=

}}

{{jctbtm|keys=trans}}

File:Route 510 L'Anse-au-Loup - Pinware.jpg

File:Route 510 Red Bay - Pinware.jpg

File:Route 510 Port Hope Simpson - Happy Valley-Goose Bay.jpg

File:Route 510 Port Hope Simpson.jpg

{{NLinttop}}

{{Jctint

|state=QC

|location_special=Blanc-Sablon
(Quebec)

|type=

|km=-4

|road={{jct|province=QC|Route|138|dir1=west|city1=Old Fort|extra=airport|location2=Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon Airport}}

|notes=Ferry connection to St. Barbe, NL and Route 430

}}

{{Jctplace

|location=none

|km=0

|place=Quebec border

}}

{{NLint

|location=L'Anse-au-Clair

|km=4

|road=

|notes=All services

}}

{{NLint

|location=Forteau

|km=14

|road=

|notes=All services

}}

{{NLint

|location=L'Anse-au-Loup

|km=28

|road=

|notes=All services

}}

{{NLint

|location=West St. Modeste

|km=42

|road=

|notes=Restaurant and lodging

}}

{{NLint

|location=Pinware

|km=47

|road=

|notes=Gas and groceries

}}

{{NLint

|location=Red Bay

|km=77

|road=

|notes=All services

}}

{{NLint

|location=none

|lspan=2

|km=109

|road=Rest stop

|notes=Garbage bin

}}

{{NLint

|km=118

|road=Highway maintenance centre

|notes=N/A

}}

{{NLint

|location=Lodge Bay

|km=155

|road=

|notes=Groceries; includes rest stop (2 km)

}}

{{NLint

|location=Mary's Harbour

|km=162

|road=Lodge Bay Road - Mary's Harbour

|notes=All services, except gas

}}

{{NLint

|location=none

|km=195

|road={{jct|province=NL|NL|513|dir1=east|city1= St. Lewis}}

|notes=Gas, groceries and restaurant (17 km)

}}

{{NLint

|location=Port Hope Simpson

|km=216

|road=

|notes=All services

}}

{{NLint

|location=none

|lspan=10

|km=220

|road={{jct|province=NL|NL|514|dir1=north|city1=Charlottetown, Labrador}}

|notes=Gas, groceries and restaurant (30 km)

}}

{{NLint

|km=317

|road=Highway maintenance centre

|notes=N/A

}}

{{NLint

|km=319

|road={{jct|province=NL|NL|516|dir1=north|city1=Cartwright}}

|notes=All services (94 km) (Gravel)

}}

{{NLint

|km=321

|road=

|notes=Garbage bin and picnic table

}}

{{NLint

|km=447

|road=Workers camp

|notes=N/A

}}

{{NLint

|km=465

|road=Highway maintenance centre

|notes=N/A

}}

{{NLint

|km=471

|road=Workers camp

|notes=N/A

}}

{{NLint

|km=543

|road=Rest stop

|notes=N/A

}}

{{NLint

|km=596

|road=Muskrat Falls camp

|notes=N/A

}}

{{Jctbridge

|km=606

|mspan=2

|bridge=Crosses the Churchill River

}}

{{NLint

|location=Happy Valley-Goose Bay

|km=none

|road={{jct|province=NL|NL|500|city1=Labrador City|city2=Churchill Falls|city3=Happy Valley-Goose Bay|nolink1=yes|extra=airport}}

|notes=Rest stop; all services 5 km to the east;
Trans-Labrador Highway follows Route 500 south

}}

{{jctbtm}}

;Footnotes

{{notelist}}

{{Portal|Canada}}

• Churchill River (Atlantic)
• Division No. 10, Newfoundland and Labrador
• List of Newfoundland and Labrador highways
• Newfoundland-Labrador fixed link
• Newfoundland and Labrador Route 516
• Quebec Route 138

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Trans-Labrador Highway}}

{{Attached KML|display=title,inline}}

• {{wikivoyage-inline|Trans-Labrador Highway}}
• [http://www.labradorcoastaldrive.com/home/47 Map of the southern TLH]
• [http://www.labradorcoastaldrive.com/home/13 Community portraits along the southern TLH]
• [http://www.stormpost.com Photos of snow pictures in southeastern Labrador]

{{Newfoundland and Labrador highways}}

Category:Newfoundland and Labrador provincial highways

Category:Labrador