Darren Stewart
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 17/03) - The partially paved stretch of Highway 3 leading into Yellowknife provides first-time visitors with breathtaking views of our Northern scenery -- if only they could take their eyes off the twisty, pockmarked road.

The only remaining unpaved stretch of Highway 3 is a 51-kilometre stretch about 20 kilometres outside Yellowknife. Maintenance and road safety along this stretch long been a front-line issue for residents of Rae-Edzo who call it a lifeline connection to stores and medical care in the bigger centre.

Rosa Mantla said sometimes she thinks twice before she drives to Yellowknife.

The principal of Elizabeth Mackenzie elementary school in Rae was in a car accident on Highway 3 last January.

"It was an icy stretch on a long straight part," she said. "If they don't maintain the road it's not much help to us."

The accident happened on a weekday but Mantla said the road gets far worse each weekend. The people of Rae pile onto the highway to drive the 90 kilometres into Yellowknife to run errands and get groceries. But road crews only work on the weekdays. Most Sundays the road is a mess, Mantla said. If it snows over the weekend, the road is even worse but the highway isn't only dangerous on snowy winter weekends. Some argue that it gets even worse over the summer.

MLA measured potholes

The road to Rae was so bad on one summer day that North Slave MLA Leon Lafferty got out of his car with a ruler.

He bent down at a washed-out section of the highway and measured potholes up to six inches deep.

Lafferty, who has driven Highway 3 regularly for 30 years, has become an outspoken proponent in the legislature for increased road crew presence on Highway 3.

"I don't think anybody drives that road more than I do," he said.

Lafferty said the road used to be easier to drive but increased traffic between Yellowknife and Rae demands increased maintenance.

"Almost everybody in Rae owns a vehicle and trips to Yellowknife can be a lifeline, living in a small community."

With increased truck and tourist traffic over the last few years, road conditions are often a nightmare.

Lafferty said minor accidents happen regularly on the highway but it's not because people are driving irresponsibly.

"It's not a lack of due care, that's not the case, it's just too slippery."

More federal funding needed

Daniel Auger, the regional superintendent of transportation for the North Slave Region, said road improvements are on the way, and would come quicker if the federal government provided more funding.

"The territorial government is constantly lobbying Transport Canada," he said.

Crews will start paving and straightening the 21-kilometre stretch of unpaved road closest to Rae this spring, leaving only 30 kilometres of unpaved road. Auger said that, under current budget projections, they will pave the road completely by 2007.

"Again, that is given the current money situation," he said. "We could do it quicker if we had the funds."

In the meantime, Auger said, the transportation department is committed to making the highway as safe as possible.

The territorial government spent $1.65 million maintaining the stretch of Highway 3 between Rae and Yellowknife in the 2001-02 fiscal year.

According to a traffic counter near Boundary Creek, about 410 vehicles drive the highway in either direction everyday. Although they don't keep track of where those vehicles come from, Auger said the majority of traffic comes up from the south. The road has never been closed due to extreme conditions, according to the transportation ministry.

Auger said the road is safe as long as people abide by posted speed limits and adjust their driving in more extreme weather. When there's a problem on the road, he said, his department is there right away to solve it.

"We don't have crews out plowing and sanding the highway seven days a week but we do have somebody patrolling the highway on the weekends," he said. "If there is a safety concern we don't avoid calling somebody in and paying them overtime to work on the road."

Rae residents want to feel safe

Mantla would like to see a stronger commitment from governments to maintain the road.

She said she looks forward to a day when she can stop worrying every time her children go into Yellowknife for the night to watch a movie. "We worry about our children and grandchildren when they go out on that road," she said. "Something should be done to make us feel safer."

She added that an elder once told her it's important to treat the roads and trails with respect, and make the best of what's available.

"It's all nature," she said. "The most important thing is that we keep the road maintained and we keep it as safe as possible for people."