Billion dollar road plan

Money the only ingredient missing

Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 13/00) - A new strategy for highway development aims high and comes with a hefty price tag.

Measures outlined in 'Investing in Roads for People and the Economy: A Highway Strategy for the Northwest Territories' would cost more than $1.2 billion to build.

Vince Steen

The report acknowledges projects such as a $500 million Mackenzie Valley Highway from Wrigley to Tuktoyaktuk and a $250 million road to the diamond fields near Lac de Gras are going to rely almost exclusively on the largesse of the federal government.

"The federal government must be convinced of the need to invest in transportation infrastructure in support of these (mining, oil and gas) developments."

Last week Transportation Minister Vince Steen got a taste of the competing regional interests that will have to be considered in the development of the strategy.

A day after the strategy was released, North Slave MLA Leon Lafferty asked why the plan for a road through the Slave Geological Province runs northeast from the North Slave to the Nunavut border and does not include connecting Dogrib communities in the area.

"Did the Department have blinders on when they did this study?" asked Lafferty, noting that it is unlikely a second road north from Hwy 3 would be built.

"Why can't we concentrate on developing our own all-weather road connecting our communities to industry instead of supporting other territories?" asked Lafferty.

Steen emphasized the strategy is a work in progress.

"There are no decisions in this document at this point," said Steen.

Before any decisions are made, communities will be consulted, he said

It appears there will be plenty of time for that.

Though the government is doing some new work, it does not have enough at this time to speed up reconstruction of the 75 kilometres of winding gravel road leading to the territorial capital.

As the report notes, the key to more funding will be commercial demand and the royalties mining and oil and gas development generates.

With the prospect of a proposal for a Mackenzie Valley pipeline within a year, increasing resource exploration and development in Fort Liard, the Beaufort Delta and the Barrenlands, all-weather roads may be soon be more than a perennial strategic objective.