Adam Johnson
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, November 28, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - As discussion begins on the re-routing of the Ingraham Trail at Giant Mine, there's no telling which of the three options will come out on top.

"It's going to be a tough decision," said Kevin McLeod, director of highway and marine services with the GNWT Department of Transportation. "But at the end of the day, common sense will prevail."

A Department of Transportation map shows the three potential corridors for a new highway link to the Ingraham Trail. - photo courtesy of the GNWT Department of Transportation PROS/CONS Corridor one: Pros: Opens up most land, better access to Ingraham Trail. Cons: Could be most expensive, could affect Fred Henne Park; needs new bridge over Baker Creek. Corridor two: Pros: Opens up some land, improved sight lines at Back Bay boat launch Cons: Could disrupt traffic at Highway 3 and the dump; needs new bridge over Baker Creek. Corridor three: Pros: Least expensive, uses current highway and bridge. Cons: Giant Mine infrastructure needs to be removed, could interfere with mine cleanup.

All three corridor options for a new stretch of highway - which will replace the deteriorating twists and turns around Giant Mine - had their proponents and detractors at a public meeting at Northern United Place Nov. 22.

The first, and longest corridor, veers north off Highway No. 3 near Fred Henne Park, curving northeast into the existing highway at the junction to Vee Lake Road; the second curves west off the existing Ingraham Trail, taking a straighter path north; and finally, corridor three, the shortest path, heads north from the existing trail entrance along Great Slave Lake and through Giant Mine.

Consultation on the project is slated to last another year-to-18 months, while construction could take as long as three years, depending on the path chosen.

In a previous interview, McLeod said the total cost could be anywhere from $6-15 million.

City council was the first to make its opinion known at the meeting, as Coun. Bob Brooks presented council's consensus decision: corridor two.

"We felt the corridor one option would interfere quite a bit with Fred Henne Park and (its) future expansion," he said.

"While corridor one would open up a lot of land, so would corridor two," he said.

Brooks also said the first corridor option would create a "dead-end" at the boat launch, which could be detrimental to potential tourism in the area. Corridor three, he said, presented, "too many impediments," mainly cleanup of Giant Mine.

McLeod said Fred Henne would not be affected, a far cry from initial drawings that had an extended Old Airport Road carving straight through the park.

"The entrance to Fred Henne Park might have to be rebuilt, but the park itself would not be disturbed."

Brooks was later countered by Coun. David Wind, who came out in support of corridor one. He said the path would open up the most land to the city.

"There is a need for more camping facilities," he said.

Wind was backed up by former Great Slave MLA Bill Braden, who said the first corridor provided the most potential for the city's future.

"(Corridor one would) open up, potentially, a whole new subdivision,"he said. "This has the potential of opening up a new tourism area."

McLeod said corridor one, as the longest option, could prove to be the most expensive.

Corridor three brought up some debate as well, both for and against it.

"I'm going to speak in favour of corridor three," said former Yellowknife mayor Don Sian.

He said he couldn't accept arguments that the highway needed to be relocated off current arsenic storage chambers underground, though the Prelude Lake resident said the highway definitely needed work.

"It was never designed to carry 10,000 trucks a year."

"Corridor three is getting a bad rap right off the bat," said Yellowknifer Suzanne Carriere.

She said improving the highway through the Giant Mine site could help to open up the region as a tourist locale.

Representatives of the Mining Heritage Society, whose future museum lies in the path of this option, were not amused.

"There's not a lot of room to move around in there," said Walt Humphries.

"Our main concern is that our site doesn't get wiped out."

The public consultation was one of several that the Department of Transportation is planning.

The department has also opened itself up to public comment on the corridors, accepting telephone, written and e-mailed submissions.