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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Scoping sessions for the Mackenzie Valley Highway Project wrapped up last week in the five communities expected to be the most impacted by a permanent road.

The Mackenzie Valley Highway Project aims to connect Highway 1 heading to Wrigley, seen here, to the Dempster Highway outside of Inuvik. The Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board finished up meetings in the communities that would be affected by the construction of such a road. - NNSL file photo

"There were social concerns in terms of increased highway traffic would bring to the community," said D'Arcy J. Moses, Wrigley band manager, adding Wrigley does not have permanent RCMP officers stationed in the community.

Staff from the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board visited Wrigley, Tulita, Fort Good Hope, Inuvik and Norman Wells, from Sept. 9 to Sept. 18, to hear residents' thoughts about the highway, said Alan Ehrlich, the review board's Environmental Impact Assessment manager. The Department of Transportation is aiming to extend the road from Wrigley to the Dempster Highway.

Moses said another important issue was raised at Wrigley's meeting by former chief Tim Lennie, who said the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation is still negotiating its land claim. Moses said many residents wanted to know what the project could mean in terms of negotiations and implementing surface rights.

"Moreover, there was an overall concern about surface rights and the fact that the land claim for the region, this was brought up by one member and highly respected elder in our community, that why is this going ahead when the land claim is unsettled both federally and with the territorial government?" he said.

Pehdzeh Ki First Nation Chief Sharon Pellissey said more studies need to be in place before the community can make a decision regarding the extension of the highway.

"The community was worried about the drugs and alcohol that presently is in the community, and it would escalate once the highway is open north, and it would strain in the Sahtu communities as well," said Pellissey.

The project's environmental scoping document, published by the Department of Transportation department in January, lists species impacted by the road's construction, including the boreal population of woodland caribou.

The herd consists of only about 6,000 to 7,000 animals and the Committee on the Status of Endangered

Wildlife in Canada lists the boreal population of woodland caribou as threatened.

The document also ranks fish species at potential risk due to the highway's construction. The Arctic grayling is considered to be at high risk.

Jim Stevens, Mackenzie Valley Highway director, said the department will try to mitigate the impact to stream crossings both during construction and maintenance of the road.

"In some cases, that's the only thing we can do is build a bridge, however we have different types of culverts that minimize the disruption to the stream bed and then also when we're doing construction, we do sediment and erosion control to minimize any substances getting into that stream bed," he said.

The highway will be able to accommodate up to 100 vehicles per day, but is expected to see roughly 50 vehicles per day, including both commercial and passenger traffic, according to the scoping document. But Stevens said the road could end up seeing more traffic than estimated.

"The wild card would be, obviously, resource development."

Stevens said with the oil and gas industry expected to boom, the road could end up servicing more vehicles. However, Stevens said enforcement programs will aim to make sure companies comply with the rules, such as height and weight restrictions.

The posted speed limit will be 80 km/h hour, with reduced speed limits posted wherever necessary, the scoping document stated.

Stevens said the road is expected to cost about $1.7 billion.

"There's 818 kilometres of highway and bridges to be built," he said. "It's approximately $2 million a kilometre to construct this road."

Stevens added the territorial government is continuing to improve the winter road, regardless of whether the highway project moves forward. That means bridges and other infrastructure will continue to be built along the winter road and could potentially be used on the all-weather road in the future.

Ehrlich said a draft terms of reference for the project is scheduled for release in October and the board will outline its planning schedule over the next few months.

"The question the board has to answer is, is this project likely to cause significant adverse affects or be a cause of significant public concern in communities?" he said. "The point right now is we're trying to figure out what subjects people in the communities who might be affected want us to look into."

Those subjects will help guide the board's decision, which will eventually be provided to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development for consideration.

But, Ehrlich said there are still many steps to take before a decision can be made.

"I think it's going to take us maybe a total of three years to prepare the information required for the Mackenzie Highway Environmental (Impact) Review Board to make a decision and for them to render the decision," he said.

After that happens, Stevens said construction could begin by 2018.

• with files from Jeanne Gagnon

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