same report points out that the Haines road does not lend
itself to winter use because of heavy snowfall and that
considerable work will be Necessary at Haines before a
satisfactory loading berth for ships will be available.

In 1945 and 1946, after the above report was written,
freight hauled through from. Dawson Creek to Whitehorse
by truck seemed to indicate that the economical limit of
haul from Dawson Creek westerly was at Watson Lake.
From the western section of the highway centring at
Whitehorse, the economical route seemed to be by rail
transportation from Skagway and then by road, or during

the summer months by truck over the Haines Cut-off
road.

Several items, such as sawn lumber from Fort St.
John and cement from Dawson Creek, have been hauled
to Whitehorse by truck over the highway and delivered
at a cheaper rate than the f.0.b. rate at Whitehorse by rail
and boat from Vancouver. However, a revised carload
rail rate from Skagway, now effective, has brought the
delivered price of these two items to about the same cost
as freighting by truck from Dawson Creek. With a mill
Operating at Haines, Alaska, rough lumber could be delivered

by highway to Whitehorse considerably cheaper than
from other points.

Here, it should be recalled that Haines is in United
States territory, as are the Alaskan points to which traffic
would principally flow over this highway artery, and
thus the maintainance by the Dominion of Canada of 320
miles out of the 360 miles of highway between Haines and
the Yukon-Alaska border (the southerly 40 miles of the
Haines Cut-off is in Alaskan territory) will be greatly to
the benefit of the United States, particularly its Alaskan
population. In short, Canada would be maintaining a
land bridge between two semi-isolated sections of United
States territory as well as making possible the permanent
establishment of Haines as a gateway to Alaska proper.
The disadvantage to the White Pass and Yukon Railway

resulting from highway competition over this route will
be obvious.

American interest in the section from Haines to the
Alaska-Yukon border would appear to be such that it may
not be out of order to suggest that the United States might
assume some part of its maintenance, over and above
maintenance of the 40-mile section that lies within its
borders. This, however, is a matter of high national
policy, and detailed discussion of the question is outside
the province of this report.

Figures for trafic handled over the Alaska Highway
are not available. The best information is that the R.C.A.F.
had been moving approximately 325 tons per month over
the highway to points between Dawson Creek and White-
horse. It is reported that 33 trucks were used in this
operation, of which 25 were constantly in operation.
Two were modern refrigeration trucks. This movement
of freight by truck continued through all seasons of the

[118 }

year regardless of weather and was carried on in temper-
atures as low as 50 degrees below zero. The run of 917
miles from. Dawson Creek to Whitehorse took about 36
hours, trucks being relayed by fresh crews. During the
period of greatest construction activity the Greyhound
Company ran a regular bus service between Dawson Creek
and Fairbanks, carrying military and civilian personnel
engaged on northwest defence projects.

It is not possible to make any forecast of the volume of
freight trafic that may develop over the main Alaska
Highway from Dawson Creek. It seems certain that
little through traffic from beyond Edmonton will develop
over the main highway to Whitehorse and points beyond,
since the highway cannot compete with long rail and
water movements. The traffic along this section of the
highway will come from such mining and other enterprises
as may develop in the areas served or reached by the high
way and its branch roads. The establishment of an all-
season branch highway from Fort Nelson to Fort Simpson
would greatly extend the season of Navigation on the
Mackenzie River and consequently increase its capacity.
This fact, coupled with possible mineral developments
in the Mackenzie Valley, would result in an important
flow of traffic between Dawson Creek and Fort Nelson.
It is presumed that by the time this branch highway could
be established the 474-mile stretch of provincial highway
between Edmonton and Dawson Creek, now virtually
impassable in some conditions of weather, will be brought
to a proper standard or relocated, and that the connecting
road now under construction from Prince George will be
completed to a standard at least as high as that of the
Alaska Highway. The Canol road, which runs north-
eastward from Johnson’s Crossing and on which some of
the grades are too steep for wheeled motor transport,
was built in conjunction with the pipeline from Norman
Wells to Whitehorse. Utilization of this road, now aban-
doned, would provide access to potential mineral areas to
the northeast of the highway. A branch to Atlin would
add substantially to the traffic of the western section. The
prime factor in the west will, however, be the Haines-
Whitehorse-Fairbanks traffic.

Construction of the all-weather road from Fort Nelson
to Fort Simpson on the Mackenzie River was advocated
during the war, but could not be justified at that time.
Without this highway, any development in the Mackenzie
River basin would not increase traffic on the Alaska High-
way, since the area would be served by the present water
route from Waterways, and by the road, now under con-
struction, from Grimshaw, Alberta, to Hay River on
Great Slave Lake. The great advantage of an all-weather
road from Fort Nelson to Fort Simpson is that it would
extend considerably the period of navigation on the Mac-
kenzie River. Below the mouth of the Liard River at
Fort Simpson the ice departs much earlier from the Mac
kenzie River than it does from Great Slave Lake. The
Fort Nelson route would permit traffic to move along the