Kirsten Larsen
Northern News Services

NNSL (Nov 23/98) - Smoke can be seen rising on the horizon and in sporadic sections along Highway 3 near Rae-Edzo and Yellowknife.

It is a sign of progress for the Highway 3 reconstruction project as Dogrib Rae band and Dene Nation work crews cut and burn brush at either end of the highway.

The clearing marks the route for the first 18 kilometres of the 90 kilometres road reconstruction project planed by the Department of Transportation to straighten and widen the highway.

Construction will be done in sections beginning at each end of Highway 3 from Yellowknife and Rae and will meet in the middle upon completion. The entire project could take between six and 13 years to complete, depending on the rate in which funding is dispersed by the government for the project.

The objective of the reconstruction project is safety, said Larry Purcka, program manager for the Department of Transportation in Yellowknife. The sight line and the radius of some of the highway's approximately 163 curves have proven to be not only difficult to navigate, but hazardous.

Purcka said the highway has an average of two fatalities a year which are caused by accidents. Statistics in the department's design plan for the highway show an average of 1.20 collisions occurred each year between 1993 and 1996 on the stretch of highway from Rae-Edzo to Franks Channel. The collision rate was even higher towards Yellowknife, with an average of 1.58 collisions a year between the 242 kilometre and the 333 kilometre area.

Purcka said the community of Rae-Edzo has a particular interest in the road's reconstruction because the residents are most likely to be involved in collisions on Highway 3.

"Rae probably suffers the most as a single community," said Purcka. "Rae uses the road the most. The heavy transportation has increased with the mineral development and that again increases the chance for accident possibility."

The 33-person clearing crew hired under the Dogrib Rae band contractor, Nishi Khon Freeway, has incorporated the project as one of extreme pride and purpose.

The clearing contract has created employment for a variety of Rae-Edzo residents from ages 18 to those in their late 60s. Included in the crew of 33 are six women from the community.

Twenty-seven year old Christine Washie said the job instils a sense of pride in her and she feels the community is supportive of the crew.

"They sounded like they were proud of us and telling us we are doing a good job," said 27-year-old Christine Washie. "I'm proud of this."

She said the job opportunity was exactly what she was looking for because the work is close to home so she can be near her one-year-old daughter.

"I was working with BHP housekeeping, but it was hard finding a babysitter," said Washie. "I was working four weeks in, one week out. It was hard for me to go to sleep at night being away. Now I go back every day and my brother is looking after her."

Johnny Weyallon, a Dogrib Rae band councillor was part of the employee selection board for Nishi Khon Freeway. He said the board had an agenda to prioritize applicants who were unemployed for six months or more and emphasized recruiting a gender and age-diverse crew. The board also outlined the necessity to hire only one member out of each household who applied.

"I think we made a good selection," said Weyallon. "We had 100 to 150 applicants and had to select between 20 to 30. There were 10 women who applied and we selected six of them and the rest are men from 18 to 60 years of age.

Purcka said the Department of Transportation's objective in negotiating contracts with the two bands was to provide the type of project that would encourage people of various skills and ages to apply for the clearing work.

The department is gearing up for the first 18 kilometres of construction to begin between January and February 1999. Construction on the 13 kilometres between Franks Channel and Stag Lake is projected to begin in late February to early March with a completion date around the fall of 1999 to July 2000.

The first three kilometres of construction from the Yellowknife airport to the golf course is expected to begin in January 1999 and be complete by the fall of 1999.