Rae-Edzo (Sep 18/06) - According to Behchoko Chief Leon Lafferty the completion of the last unpaved highway in Canada took the sacrifice of people from across the NWT.

"It means that we've finally completed one of those things that the leaders have been wanting to see completed," he said.

Workers put the finishing touches on the highway between Behchoko and Yellowknife in July.

A banner was spread across the highway so that cars from 1940's to 1970's could drive through during a celebration ceremony on Sept. 9.

"There was a lot of dangerous curves, mean pot holes. It was unforgiving," he said. Lafferty said visibility is greatly improved.

Maintaining the highway, which stretches over 300km from Yellowknife to Fort Providence before joining the Mackenzie highway, will be difficult, Lafferty said.

"It's going to take a lot of maintenance to keep the road open. The new kind of construction, of blast and filling, it's going to take awhile to settle."

The federal government gave the Northwest Territories $130 million to help improve Northern infrastructure - $28 million went towards the highway. Paving cost $200 million and took 23 years to complete, according to the Department of Transportation.