Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker. Wrigley is a small community at kilometre 548 of the Mackenzie Highway in the beautiful Deh Cho region and Nahendeh riding. With its view of the Franklin Mountains, a trip between Wrigley and Fort Simpson is one of the Northwest Territories most scenic drives, yet it is another area of untapped tourism potential.
As a traveller on this highway said, this is where the Deh Cho becomes extraordinary, but this section of Highway No. 1 is also where the Deh Cho becomes extraordinarily dusty. The Department of Transportation website reports road bans in effect between kilometre 188 and 551. Otherwise, driving conditions are fair and very dusty. Also I make note that there is a narrow section which is only one lane.
Once again, highways in the Nahendeh are doing a disservice to our communities. This is not good for a highway registered on our national highway system. Rain also wreaks havoc on this section of the highway. When it rains, the road turns to clay. It gets very slippery and once it’s dried, tire tracks get cemented in place like bad pottery.
In the last government, a lot of work was done around the feasibility of extending the Mackenzie Highway north from Wrigley. With oil and gas activity increasing in the central Mackenzie Valley, industry will need an all-weather access to the region. We can argue that the Government of the Northwest Territories is not in a position to develop the highway north of Wrigley, but it cannot argue that Highway No. 1 should not get the same attention as other roads in our system. Just because the volume of traffic is lower, it doesn’t mean there should be less maintenance. If anything, regular maintenance could bring more opportunities to Wrigley and Fort Simpson. Unlike Highway No. 7, the road does not need to be rebuilt; it just needs regular maintenance.
The people who travel that road are not asking for a new one. We are asking for a road that we can drive safely and comfortably, a road that is key to economic opportunities, a road that lets us show every traveller and visitor that the Deh Cho really is extraordinary. Mahsi cho, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Inuvik Boot Lake, Mr. Moses.
