Yellowknife (Sep 13/06) - It was a celebration that was 23 years and more than $200 million in the making.

About 300 people gathered on the shores of Long Lake Saturday afternoon to celebrate the completion of Highway 3, Yellowknife's road link to the south.

Avid cyclist Dan O'Neill said the fact the highway is wider, straighter and smoother will make his daily rides safer and easier.

"I do about 50 to 60 kilometres an evening. It's great visibility," he said.

Prior to reconstruction, the road was brutal, he said.

"It was a nightmare. I had a couple of spills into the ditch and drove off the shoulder. (There was) a lot of gravel, a lot of mud, just a lousy highway."

The opening ceremony featured a barbecue at the Folk on the Rocks site and speeches from dignitaries, among them Edmonton MP Mike Lake, standing in for federal Transportation Minister Lawrence Cannon, who was unable to attend.

To officially open the highway, classic cars dating back to the 1930s drove through a banner.

Territorial government officials hope completion of the highway will make the road safer to drive and bring tourists North.

"From the regional perspective it's a road that's now safer, wider, and it's a real pleasure to drive," said territorial Transportation Minister Michael McLeod.

The highway received its final coat of pavement in July, but it isn't perfect, he said.

"There's a couple sections where we're experiencing some frost heaving. It's more of an inconvenience than anything else."

McLeod has been driving the highway for years and said the improvements are noticeable.

"It was narrow, and it had a lot of curves on it. It was very dusty when it was dry and it was slippery when it rained.

It wasn't a welcoming road to travel for the tourists."

According to the department, the original highway had 120 curves between the Rae turnoff and Yellowknife. Now there are just 40.

Marvin Robinson, president of RTL Robinson Enterprise Ltd., knows all about the highway.

His company helped build portions of it.

"It means that we'll have better maintenance costs on our equipment," said Robinson.

He said workers encountered a few difficulties while paving, especially in areas that ran over permafrost.

Officials hope the fully-paved highway will help attract southern tourists to the capital.

"As it was being paved we started seeing a significant rise in traffic," McLeod said.

"This opens up a whole part of the country that people haven't seen before," said Edmonton MP Mike Lake.

The timeline

Reconstruction of the highway began in 1983 and cost over $200 million, according to the transport department.

The last phase of work, 95 km from Rae to Yellowknife cost an estimated $75 million, or $850,000 a kilometre.

1938-39: CAT trains from Grimshaw, Alberta to Yellowknife follow a path that eventually becomes the Mackenzie Highway.

April 12, 1939: First CAT train arrives in Yellowknife across Great Slave Lake.

1945: Alberta and federal governments agree to build an all-weather road from Grimshaw to the south shore of Great Slave Lake.

1946: Construction begins on Highway 1, now known as the Mackenzie Highway.

1948: Highway finished from Grimshaw to Hay River.

1950s: Highway construction from the south shore of Great Slave Lake to Yellowknife begins.

1959: Traffic begins on Highway 3, but road isn't driveable during the rain.

1981: Government of the Northwest Territories is given control of highway and ferry operations and maintenance from the federal government.

1984: Federal government transfers responsibilities for building highways within the NWT to the GNWT.

1990: Highway 3 reconstruction from Enterprise starts moving northward.

1998: Highway 3 reconstruction is now between Frank's Channel and Yellowknife.

2003: Federal and NWT governments contribute $130 million funding to help improve transportation and infrastructure in the NWT. Highway 3 gets $28 million.

2006: Highway 3 is completed.BYLINE: Reporting