Dorothy Westerman
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Aug 05/05) - Yellowknife RCMP are investigating an accident on Highway 3 which sent a motorcyclist to hospital last week.

According to Const. Colleen Werrell, police received a call at 11:45 a.m. July 27 about a collision between a motorcycle and a rock truck near Boundary Creek, in a construction zone about 30 km from Yellowknife.

"The truck was well into its turn before the motorcycle hit it," Werrell said. "There were no injuries to the rock truck driver, but the motorcycle was written off."

The motorcyclist was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Donnie Robinson, a spokesperson for RTL Robinson Enterprises Ltd., said the accident occurred on a two-lane section of the highway.

"There were no flag people there because the trucks were turning on and off the highway and all the signage was in the area that was needed to be there for that," Robinson said.

Bob Kelly, manager of public affairs and communications for the Dept. of Transportation, said contractors working on such highway sites must follow specific safety guidelines.

Kevin McLeod of the Dept. of Transportation said construction is in its final stages. Chipsealing will start Aug. 7 but may not be complete until next year.

"We didn't want them chip sealing in less than ideal conditions," he said.

Total cost of the Highway 3 project is $60 million and is on budget and on schedule, McLeod said.