Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 14/05) - Drivers eager for the completion of Highway 3 will have to wait until next spring.

The last 32 km section of the highway has been under construction since 2004.

Work was scheduled to finish this year, but the 12 km section closest to Yellowknife has not been chipsealed.

The section is being graded to give it a gravel surface for the winter.

Work will finish this week, said Donnie Robinson, vice-president of RTL Robinson Enterprises Ltd., the company contracted to build the road.

Weather was a problem, but most of the delays were caused by a labour shortage, he said.

"The problem was not having enough people or not having enough qualified people," Robinson said.

At the peak of construction 95 people were working on the highway around the clock except for a break every long weekend.

Despite delays, officials are still pleased with the pace of highway construction.

The original estimate for completion of the project was 2008, said Michael McLeod, minister of transportation.

"We have a road that is comparable to a lot of our southern neighbours," McLeod said.

Construction started in 1983 on the Alberta boarder. It's cost approximately $200 million.

The section from Rae-Edzo to Yellowknife alone cost $70 million.

Federal investment

Investment from the federal government was instrumental in speeding up the project, McLeod said.

All officials agree the new highway is a vast improvement over the original road.

"It's like comparing the 401 in Toronto with the Ingraham Trail," said Rick Menard, a project officer, on the difference.

The highway from Yellowknife to Rae-Edzo has been straightened.

There are now only seven gentle curves compared to more than 120 previously, said Kevin McLeod the NWT director of highways.

The road is also almost twice as wide and the brush is cleared back farther for better visibility, said McLeod.

Sections of the old road can still be seen on either side of the new highway. The clay top was dug off the old road and used to fill the slopes on the sides of the highway.

"It'll be overgrown in three years time and you'll never know it's there," said McLeod.

Work on the new highway will resume on May 1.

A new layer of gravel will be put down and then the highway will be chipsealed.

Last 100 years

The new highway bed has been built to last 100 years. The chipseal surface will need to be replaced every three to five years.

July 21, 2006, is the planned date for completion of all work including the road lines and safety signs, said McLeod.