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SAHTU
The Department of Transportation is planning to launch a public education campaign on how to safely drive the Mackenzie Valley winter road.

Dan Quevillon, the department's regional superintendent for the Fort Simpson region, said some concerns have been raised by Sahtu residents who aren't used to encountering large commercial loads in the numbers using the road this winter.

"We are going to basically start educating our communities on what to expect when the roads are being used by the oil and gas industry or other commercial companies," Quevillon said.

It will be a proactive approach to help keep road users safe, he added. "I think it's a good step that we're taking in the right direction."

The details of how to get the message to the public are still being worked out.

"That's work in progress," Quevillon said.

The communications initiative is expected to start in early February.

"Right now, we have our Internet site where we can relay messages out to our public," Quevillon said. "That's what we have been doing in order to keep the public aware, but because of the increased level of traffic we are going to be moving forward with a communication plan that's going to allow people to get information as to what to expect when there's heavy traffic on the road."

The high volume of traffic on the winter road is largely related to oil and gas exploration.

As part of the education effort, Quevillon and the highways manager for the Fort Simpson region will be travelling to all communities on the winter road and meeting with chiefs and councils.

One aspect of the initiative, which will also involve truckers, will be additional signage on the road.

Quevillon noted the winter road will be particularly busy in March with the start of demobilization by the oil and gas industry, meaning equipment, rigs and other supporting infrastructure will be moving south.

Aside from the number of vehicles, the loads being moved, including components of drilling rigs, are very heavy this winter.

The Mackenzie Valley winter road system begins at Wrigley and crosses 794 km to the Sahtu communities of Deline, Tulita, Colville Lake, Norman Wells and Fort Good Hope.

Speaking last week, Quevillon said the conditions of the winter road ranged from fair to good, and repairs were underway on the road to make it as good as when it opened.

"Good progress is actually being made on that," he said.

Quevillon had no statistics on the number of trucks using the winter road this season.

However, as an illustration of the high usage, he pointed out that 122 commercial trucks used the road in one day, Jan. 18, when it reopened after being closed on Jan. 15 because of a storm.

There were also several delays on the winter road this month, one caused by an accident, one by a stalled vehicle and another by a jackknifed tanker.

Quevillon noted the very cold temperatures so far this season have helped maintain the winter road.

- with files from Roxanna Thompson

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