The 4.6-mile-wide route will be a two-way voluntary scheme stretching hundreds of miles as traffic increases in the area.
Project officer Kody Stitz told AP: "We see more traffic and envision more traffic to continue."
Ship transits reached 440 last year, double the level in 2008 as climate change allows more vessels through.
"Ice is more unpredictable and the weather is far worse because the ice is what keeps the waves down," said Marilyn Heiman, US Arctic director for the Pew Charitable Trusts.
She
