Planned highway construction on Quebec's Lower North Shore will bode well for communities in southern Labrador, a local business leader says.

Quebec Premier Jean Charest announced a $100-million plan Thursday to build 425 kilometres of highway along the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Towns along the southern Labrador coast have long had a kinship with Lower North Shore communities, although they have been accessible only by air and boat.

Stelman Flynn, who owns Labrador Preserves and a number of other businesses in Forteau, said the completion of the highway will have great economic consequences.

"We will finally be connected to the Quebec market and indeed central Canada … It means that we'll have an opportunity to compete and to ship right into the North American market," Flynn told CBC News.

"This has been a long time coming and I think this is great news economically for indeed the Quebec lower north shore and [us]."

Flynn added there will be new opportunities for tourism and manufacturing.

The highway construction plan will take 10 years to complete.

However, there will still be a 40-kilometre gap to be filled, and the Quebec government has not yet committed to build a bridge across the Natashquan River.