SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Two rollovers last week involving drivers sliding off Highway 3 on the outskirts of Yellowknife are reminders of the dangers of living in the North, and a government official says people must pay attention to road conditions.

An SUV rolled off Highway 3 last Friday near the Yellowknife Golf Club. The driver was taken to the hospital with undisclo - Ian Vaydik/NNSL photo

"It's important, obviously, that drivers recognize that conditions can change quickly in the winter, and they have to drive to those conditions," said Michael Conway, the regional superintendent for the Department of Transportation.

Conway said the highways are constantly monitored and maintained by the department - seven days a week and 12 hours a day, starting at 5 a.m., all throughout the winter season. Their duties involve plowing snow as well as applying sand, or salt, or a mixture of the two, to the highways, depending on the weather.

"They use different tools to try to keep the roads with as much friction as possible," said Conway.

He said crews evaluate whether to use salt or sand based on the day's temperature and the forecast.

For salt, the best temperature ranges between -12 C and -15 C, and any variance from those temperatures affects the ratio of sand to salt in the mixture.

"If you have freezing rain, for instance - that's a good example because it's one of the most difficult (situations) - if we had freezing rain, we would probably have a temperature that was fairly warm, so you might be in the -5, -10 degree temperature," said Conway.

"We'd probably treat that with a mixture of sand and salt, and the salt will, as much as possible, dissolve the ice and the sand sticks to that and provides increased friction."

If the forecast predicts a drop of temperature to -30 C, Conway said, the crew would take that into account.

"You would put more sand into the sand-salt mixture and you would hope that the sand would stick to the road as it got colder, and increase friction."

He said Yellowknife is home to the busiest stretches of highway in the NWT.

"There's about 5,000 cars per day that travel through there," said Conway, of the Old Airport Road loop.

"We put a lot of effort into keeping the roads and the highways good and in general they're in pretty good condition."

The city's streets are similarly maintained, according to Dennis Kefalas, director of public works.

The work usually starts around 3 a.m. - this work includes snow removal, if needed, and the laying of gravel and pink granite in all major intersections, which is supposed to be done by 7:30 a.m. in anticipation of the morning rush and then a second crew will come on to handle the rest of the day.

"They'll probably go out again around (3 p.m.) to sand the intersections," said Kefalas.

The roads is monitored by the department throughout the day, as crews grade the gravel and attempt to remove ridges and disperse it onto the roadways.

It is also monitored by municipal enforcement and the RCMP, who call in any problem areas.

Kefalas said the city uses "very little" salt - usually only in cases of freezing rain, and in the early winter and spring when temperatures are above -20 C.

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