SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The new road skirting around Giant Mine will be opening a little later than planned.

Earl Blacklock, spokesperson for the Department of Transportation, said it won't be meeting its October deadline for the Giant Mine bypass road. He estimates it will open in early to mid November.

An excavator works on the Giant Mine bypass road in August. Work is expected to continue on the new road into November, but the transportation department says the road will be open to traffic by mid-November. - Daniel Campbell/NNSL photo This site, about 10 km outside of Yellowknife on Highway 3, isn't going to be cleaned up anytime soon. People using areas off Highway 3 to dump their household garbage and appliances are costing taxpayers money, transportation spokesperson Earl Blacklock says. - Daniel Campbell/NNSL photo

The 5.9 km bypass, part of a 7.8 km realignment of the Ingraham Trail, began taking shape in October 2012 with a budget of $17 million.

More than 250,000 cubic metres of rock have been moved using 252 metric tonnes of explosives, cutting an 11.4-metre-wide swathe through the wilderness west of Giant Mine.

Blacklock said he's not concerned the remaining work will be affected by cold weather. In August, project manager Larry Purcka said chipsealing the surface of the road - the last step in construction - requires temperatures to stay above 10 C.

Bison solution

The GNWT is looking for answers after a bison made its way onto the Deh Cho Bridge.

The Department of Transportation recently spent $545,000 to install Texas gates at each end of the bridge. The gates were specifically designed to deter the bison, but the bison found a way around the half-million-dollar barricade.

Earlier this month, a picture of a bison on the bridge - which had hopped the guardrails beside the gate - was circulated through social media

Blacklock said the department is looking for advice from government wildlife experts, as well as community members in Fort Liard and Fort Providence who have experience with bison deterrence.

"Clearly we want to make sure we get it right so they don't keep accessing the roadway," Blacklock said.

Increasing the height of the guardrails so the bison won't hop over them won't help, Blacklock said. The department wants to make sure bison avoid the area. They'll be looking at creating additional barriers and using visual discouragements like flapping flags.

Blacklock doesn't expect work to be started anytime soon.

Highway dumpers

Appliances and other trash strewn along roads outside of Yellowknife are wasting taxpayer money, the Department of Transportation says.

Blacklock said he can't keep track of all the off-highway dumping grounds outside the city.

"This is very costly to the taxpayers," Blacklock said. "People are using these places as dumping grounds instead of going to the Yellowknife dump."

Cleanup began on a particularly messy site off Highway 3, about 10 km east of downtown, on Oct. 7. The federal government took responsibility for the site, where dozens of bullet-ridden appliances lay. It's paying $75,000 to clean up the area.

Another dump, 500 metres up the road from the federal government site, is similarly strewn with garbage and appliances. Blacklock said there are a number of sites along the highways the DOT cleans up, but it isn't responsible for all messes along the road.

"There isn't a lot we can do about it," he said. "We do maintain the areas for which we're responsible."