After two years with interrupted access to barging, this winter road season in the Sahtu will likely be one of the busiest ever.
The N.W.T. Department of Infrastructure said in an email they are expecting up to 800 truckloads of supplies will be delivered on the Mackenzie Valley winter road this year — around twice the average volume of 300 to 400 loads.
The N.W.T. government’s fuel service division alone is planning to bring about 250 truckloads of fuel to the four Sahtu communities it serves: Tulita, Deline, Fort Good Hope and Colvile Lake.
Lorne Browne, the director of fuel services, said it was the “largest fuel [haul] moved by road that we are aware of in recent history.”
Barge service into Sahtu communities has been cancelled or partially cancelled for the past two years because of low water levels on the Mackenzie River, leaving the region increasingly dependant on the winter road for access to to goods. Water levels on the Mackenzie remained at record lows as of late November.
Browne said the trucks travelling into the Sahtu will carry a combined 8.25 million litres of fuel to the region’s small communities. The goal, Browne said, was to ensure the communities receive enough fuel to last until the next winter road season.
‘A very stressful time for everyone’
For Sahtu business owners who will be relying on the winter road, the resupply presents many logistical challenges.
“To bring up a year’s worth of supplies for goods in a six week period is a ton of work, it’s a lot of stress, it brings up unknowns,” said Joshua Earls, the owner of Ramparts grocery store in Norman Wells, N.W.T.
“This is our one-shot kind of deal to make this work and happen, and that’s kind of the feeling I’m getting from other people too, is that, yeah, we can only prepare so much… I think it’s just a very stressful time for everyone here.”
Earls isn’t the only person worried about the upcoming season.
Arthur Tobac is the business manager for Ne’Rahten Developments, the business arm of the Yamogo Land Corporation. The organization also provides supplies for the K’asho Gotine housing society.
He said the organization planned for cancelled barges last year, but they will still need to bring in larger-than-normal loads on the winter road this year — including six modular homes.
A rough patch on the Mackenzie Valley Winter Road between Norman Wells and Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., on March 7, 2019. (John Last/CBC)
“I worry about the congested traffic that might be on the road this year. Sometimes, when that happens, the road gets pretty beaten up and everything else,” Tobac said. “It just creates an unsafe road conditions.”
The N.W.T. Department of Infrastructure told CBC in an email it has taken many proactive measures to ensure the winter road resupply goes safely and smoothly.
Measures include additional flooding on all ice crossings to increase the loads they can carry, widening the road where possible and increasing maintenance and monitoring of the road and associated signs, the department said.
The Mackenzie Valley winter road is currently open from Wrigley to Délı̨nę for vehicles up to 5,000 kilograms.