Mackenzie River a full month before it could do so by
way of either Grimshaw or Waterways.

The road from Grimshaw to Great Slave Lake is being
built under a joint agreement between the Dominion
Government and the Government of the Province of
Alberta whereby the Dominion bears all the cost of con-
struction in the Northwest Territories, a distance of
81 miles, and bears two-thirds of the cost in Alberta where
247 miles of new road are to be built. The Province of
Alberta will contribute the remaining one-third, besides
providing right of way.

There is at present a passable road for 58 miles north
from Grimshaw and this, with the new mileage of road to
be built, will give a total length between Grimshaw and
Hay River on Great Slave Lake of 386 miles.

Contracts were let in 1946 for both sections of the road
and provide for their completion by the end of 1947. It is
possible that gravelling will not be finished at that time
but the contractors have organized to complete the grading
work in the 1947 season if weather conditions are favourable,

The chief highway development in sight at the present
time that might increase traffic on the Dawson Creek-
Fort Nelson section of the Alaska Highway is the road
from Prince George, B.C., over Pine Pass to Dawson Creek.
Contracts for the construction of this road were let in
1945 by the Province of British Columbia. Although this
highway is primarily being constructed as an outlet for the
Peace River area in British Columbia, its connection with
the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek will permit Pacific
Coast residents to reach the latter highway by a fairly
direct route.

Apart from freight traffic, ordinary motor vehicle
trafic over the Alaska Highway between Dawson Creek
and Watson Lake will largely depend upon the class of
road that is eventually developed between Edmonton and

Dawson Creek. At the present time there is a fairly well.

established road from Peace River to Edmonton, but this is
not a direct route in so far as Dawson Creek is concerned.
Westerly, from Peace River or from Lesser Slave Lake, the
existing road is of low standard and is difficult to travel
in bad weather.

The shortest distance between Edmonton and Dawson
Creek is by Sturgeon Lake and is estimated at 474 miles.
However, even this route is too long for general tourist
traffic and is not suitable for adoption as a trunk highway.

Consequently, the future use of the southern half of the -

Alaska Highway for tourist traffic will depend upon the
class of highway that might be built on a direct route
between Edmonton and Dawson Creek.

West of Watson Lake the possibilities of general traffic
over the Alaska Highway are more promising. Con-
sideration is already being given by the Dominion and the
Province of British Columbia to the construction of a
highway northerly from Atlin to connect with the Alaska
Highway at a point some 52 miles east of Whitehorse.
This highway which has now been surveyed would

give Atlin an overland connection with the outside world
and would be an important factor in the development of a
promising district.

Strong representations have been made by Pacific
Coast interests for the construction of a highway northerly
from Prince George along the “B” route which was recom-
mended by the British Columbia-Yukon-Alaska Highway
Commission (Canada). This route follows the Rocky
Mountain Trench, which lends itself admirably to railway
or highway construction. The route would join the existing
highway in the vicinity of Watson Lake. Its construction
through a more central section of British Columbia with
very promising natural resources would stimulate traffic
on all sections of the Alaska Highway west of Watson
Lake.

The “B” route was endorsed by the United States
Alaska Highway Commission, although the Commission
gave preference to the “A” route farther west, which
went by way of Atlin to Whitehorse. The “B” route is,
of course, considerably shorter for Pacific centres than
the present route.

The abandonment of the Canol project, which has
resulted in the rapid deterioration of the roughly built
Canol Road, removes a possible source of increased traffic
on the Alaska Highway between the north end of Teslin
Lake, Whitehorse, and other points both east and west.
At one time it was visualized that the Canol road with
the Alaska Highway and the projected road from Fort
Nelson to Fort Simpson would be part of a loop transporta-
tion route to serve undeveloped areas in eastern British
Columbia and the Yukon.

Later information indicates that further study, explora-
tion, and surveys are needed before the routes of new roads
in the areas concerned can be properly determined and their
economic value assessed. From the Canadian view-point, —
the maintenance of the Alaska Highway from Watson Lake
to Whitehorse, and at least as far westerly as Kluane Lake,
together with the maintenance of the Haines Cut-off road,
seems already well justified. From the same standpoint,
the construction of a road from Whitehorse to Dawson City
seems essential for the development of the Yukon. From
such a road a connection to Mayo in the Yukon Territory
would be a natural sequence. There would be no difficulty
in constructing a road from Dawson City to the Alaska
Yukon boundary in the vicinity of Sixty-Mile Creek, as
originally recommended in 1941 by the British Columbia-
Yukon-Alaska Highway Commission.

Some concern has been expressed as to the feasibility of
maintaining the highway in its present location from the
north end of Kluane Lake to the Alaska boundary. It is
too soon to pass any considered opinion of the maintenance
of this section of the road, but it should be noted that so
far it has been kept open and usable without any extreme
difficulty. Although the location of this section could have
been improved from the maintenance standpoint and many
miles of muskeg avoided, it must be borne in mind that at

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