Yellowknife (Aug 25/06) - If you're looking for a tasty meal on the drive along Hwy. 1, you'll have to wait awhile longer.

Travellers used to be able to stop at Checkpoint, located at the junction of Hwy. 1 and Hwy. 7, to sit down for a meal and a break from driving. The restaurant at Checkpoint has been closed for almost four months now. .

Negative press in News/North was the main reason for closing the restaurant, said Lynn McKay, who co-owns the operation with her husband Wayne. In April a story ran about a soccer team from Fort Resolution who were upset at being asked to pay $5 to use the washroom at the restaurant.

McKay said they may reopen the restaurant at a later date, maybe during the winter for truckers. The McKays have been running Checkpoint for nine years.

"We just need to take a break from it," she said.

Until then everything else at Checkpoint has remained the same. The bed and breakfast is still open and so is the gas bar, said McKay. Coffee and snacks are still available. Most people are used to the restaurant being closed, she said. The summer tourist traffic has been down a bit from past years, said McKay.

She speculates that the high price of gas might be deterring people from travelling.

The property has also recently been put up for sale through a Yellowknife-based real estate agent.

The asking price is $1.2 million.