The winter road connecting Wekweètì to the NWT’s highway system is set to close by Saturday, the territorial government says, having only opened on March 22.
The Department of Infrastructure said on Wednesday the road is on “72-hour advance closure notice,” as is the Gamètì̀ winter road.
Both roads are already limited to night-time use only in a bid to extend their operating lives.
If the Wekweètì road closes on or before April 6 as announced, that’ll mark its earliest closure on record according to statistics made available by the GNWT.
March 22 was the road’s latest opening since 2008, which was also the only time the road’s season has been shorter. That year, according to the GNWT’s records, the road was only operational for a little over a week. This year, it’s likely to reach two weeks before closing. Usually, residents get a month.
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Numerous NWT communities that aren’t accessible by all-season roads rely on the construction of winter roads to bring in up to a year of supplies by vehicle.
People, companies and governments make trips to Yellowknife, Edmonton and beyond to bring home goods during the window in which the winter road is open. The shorter the window, the harder that process can be. Any goods that don’t come in via the road either have to wait for next year or be flown in at greater expense.
The winter road to Gamètì̀ hasn’t closed as early as April 6 since the 1990s. The average closing date for the Gamètì̀ and Wekweètì roads so far this century is April 15.
