Yellowknife (Dec 20/06) - The Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road will feature a separate route for south-bound traffic to help ensure a longer trucking season this year.

The secondary road will handle both empty rigs and those backhauling refuse or other loads from diamond mines and exploration sites, said Eric Madsen, director of winter road operations for the Joint Venture Management Committee (JVMC).

The road will stretch from the West Bay of Gordon Lake, and pass by Tyhee Development Corp.'s Yellowknife gold project. It will then follow the old Discovery mine road and wind south past Prosperous Lake until it connects with the Ingraham Trail, he said.

"The secondary road will be used to try and take the pressure off the main south section of the road," he said.

Last year, the Tibbitt to Contwoyto ice road lasted just 42 days compared to 76 days in 2005.

While the 150 km secondary route won't be used until the second week of February, the main road remains a major focus, said Madsen.

Crews have begun measuring ice thickness on the southern portion of the road. If ice is deemed thick enough, amphibious Haglund vehicles will begin doing profiling work on the southern parts of the main road in late December, he said.

Safety and weather conditions remain the key issues as to when the road will open, but the JVMC remains optimistic for the year.

Final costs for the main and secondary ice roads are undetermined, but last year the road cost $10 million.

"If the ice is there, our goal is to try and open as early as possible."

RTL Robinson Enterprises has been contracted to build and maintain the secondary ice road, said Donnie Robinson, vice-president of RTL Northern Operations.

The company is one of a handful of groups with a land use permit for the old Discovery mine road, giving them access to work on the secondary route, said Robinson.

Initially 14 employees will build the road, and 10 will handle maintenance that take place later, he said.

"We are excited about the opportunity," he said.

Helicopters will do overhead checks for ice thickness prior to being actually measured by buoyant Hildebrand vehicles, which will be used for profiling work in late December or early January.

The secondary ice road will be re-routed slightly, said Robinson.

The road will bypass Cassidy Point and come out at the Ingraham Trail to avoid any traffic and noise conflict with residents in the area, he said.

Tyhee Development Corp. has used the road to gain access to its Yellowknife gold project for the past number of years, said David Webb, Tyhee chief executive officer and president.

"The southbound traffic shouldn't affect our use of the road," he said.

Normally only 30 to 40 loads of supplies and fuel are trucked to Tyhee's venture annually, he said.

The additional route adds more flexibility when it comes to delivering supplies, said Jim Crawford, manager of investor relations for Peregrine Diamonds. Peregrine, which recently began bulk sampling work at its DO diamond project 300 km northeast of Yellowknife was forced to fly in supplies last year after the early closure.

"It takes some strains off the main passage," he said.

The company is in the process of icing a potential landing strip so Hercules aircraft can make flights to deliver supplies.