John Curran
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 15/05) - Yellowknifers will have to wait until 2006 for crews to finish work on Highway 3.

Heading into the summer construction season, Transportation Minister Michael McLeod insisted the project would be complete by October of this year, but department spokesperson Bob Kelly has now confirmed to News/North that deadline will not be met.

Work on Highway 3 between Yellowknife and Rae-Edzo won't be completed this year after all. Crews were hampered this summer by a lack of good weather and qualified labour.

In fact the department has instructed the contractor, RTL Robinson Enterprises, not to rush to get it done this year, said Kelly.

"We want to make sure it's done right," he said. This year's project to chipseal the final 33 km into Yellowknife ran into two snags.

The wetter than normal summer and the high demand for heavy-equipment operators meant RTL crews, moved slower than expected.

Extending the season to make up for the delays wasn't an option, said Kelly, because the highway is covered with an oil-based chipseal, which can't be properly applied in the cold.

By the end of the fall the re-construction work will be done, however, so the route will be higher, wider and straighter, he said.

The total cost of completing the final leg has been pegged at $12 million.

"It's just the final 10-12 km won't have that chipseal surface," he said.

The price for the work won't change, added Kelly.

"It was all part of the original contract."