Traffic Resumes On Washed-Out Northern Highway

Traffic Resumes On Washed-Out Northern Highway

Tuesday, August 02, 2005 at 14:54

 

 

An important road link in northern Saskatchewan finally re-opened over the weekend.

 

Highway 905, which connects communities in the Far North and some mine sites to the rest of the province, was opened Sunday at around noon.

 

Crews had spent the better part of seven days trying to get the upper hand on a series of severe washouts along that road.

 

At last word, the water was about half a metre deep in some places, and traffic was not being recommended for light vehicles like cars.

 

However, Highways department spokesman Lionel Pillar says that will probably change after tonight.

 

There are some sections where crews are still working, particularly between Kilometre 30 and Kilometre 55 — and vehicles are being asked to slow down to 10 to 15 kilometres an hour where the water is still high.

 

Pillar estimates rebuilding the road and putting in culverts might cost as much as $500,000 when the bills come in.

 

He says, in addition to the 25 workers that worked almost non-stop, the department had to bring in quite a bit of machinery.

 

Now that the highway has been re-opened, communities in the Athabasca basin are once again getting some valuable supplies — including groceries.