Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 19/00) - The area's ice roads aren't expected to last until the end of the week, according to the Department of Transportation.

"Friday is a pretty iffy day for trucks," said regional superintendent for the department Art Barnes.

The Mackenzie River ice crossing at Fort Providence was still open to all vehicles Tuesday although it was wet, slushy and filled with ruts. The Dettah road was also open to a load limit of 48,000 kilograms.

"We'll end up having to shut down to light traffic by mid-week," said Barnes about both roads. "By the latter part of the week we'll be closing them off to all traffic.

"They could close to light traffic tomorrow afternoon or evening and even to all traffic to all traffic Thursday afternoon or evening."

Temperatures are expected to reach the 12 to 13 degree Celsius mark for the latter part of the week, staying a couple degrees below freezing for the nighttime lows.

"With temperatures like that it won't last for very many more days," Barnes added. "But as any good meteorologist knows the weather is hard to predict. But there's been significant melts this week."

In early April it was thought that all ice roads would be shut down by mid-month, setting a new record for the earliest closures.

The current record for the closing of the Mackenzie River crossing is April 14, which was set in 1992.