Yellowknife Highway marker

Yellowknife Highway

Northwest Territories Highway 3
Route information
Maintained by Department of Transportation
Length338.8 km (210.5 mi)
Major junctions
South end Highway 1 (Mackenzie Highway) near Fort Providence
North end Highway 4 (Ingraham Trail) at Yellowknife
Location
CountryCanada
TerritoryNorthwest Territories
Highway system
    ← Highway 2→ Highway 4
    Bridge over the Frank Channel near Behchokǫ̀
    Wood bison along the Yellowknife Highway

    The Yellowknife Highway, officially Northwest Territories Highway 3 and also known as the Great Slave Highway, is a highway connecting Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, to the Mackenzie Highway, from a junction 188 km (117 mi) north of the Alberta border. First completed in 1960 as a gravel and dirt road, the highway is now paved and realigned after years of work concluded in 2006. Access to Yellowknife prior to the opening of the Yellowknife Highway was possible only by airplane, winter road, or boat across Great Slave Lake.

    The highway also connects with Behchokǫ̀ (formerly Rae-Edzo) and Fort Providence. From Yellowknife, Highway 4 extends a further 70 km (43 mi) north, also providing access to the seasonal winter roads used by commercial trucking for mine resupply.

    Crossing the Mackenzie River (just south of Fort Providence) between 1960 and November 2012 required a ferry service (May–January) and ice bridge (December to March). Transportation was interrupted in the spring for approximately five weeks when the ice bridge became unsafe but ice conditions prevented safe ferry operations. The ferry-vessel Johnny Berens served from 1961 to 1972, and the MV Merv Hardie served from 1972 to 2012.

    The Deh Cho Bridge opened on November 30, 2012, and replaced the ferry/ice bridge.[1] Trucks pay tolls on northbound crossings, with pre-registered trucks using an electronic device being charged automatically. Private passenger vehicles do not pay a toll. Estimated costs have more than tripled since 2003.[2][3] In 2021, the Tłı̨chǫ All-Season Road opened as a branch from the Yellowknife Highway.

    Major intersections

    RegionLocationkm[4]miDestinationsNotes
    South Slave​00.0 Highway 1 (Mackenzie Highway) – Enterprise, Hay River, Fort SimpsonSouthern terminus
    23–
    25    		14–
    16    		Deh Cho Bridge crosses the Mackenzie River
    Fort Providence3220Fort Providence Access Road
    ​197122 Highway 9 (Tłı̨chǫ All-Season Road) – Whati
    North SlaveBehchokǫ̀239149Formerly Edzo
    244152Crosses Frank Channel
    245152Rae Access Road
    Yellowknife335208 Yellowknife Airport
    336209 Highway 4 east (Ingraham Trail) – Dettah, Predude Lake
    338210Old Ingraham Trail / 48 Street – City CentreNorthern terminus
    1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

    References

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yellowknife Highway and Deh Cho Bridge.
    1. ↑ "Deh Cho Bridge to open Nov. 30". CBC News. November 6, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
    2. ↑ CBC News: A closer look at Canada's infrastructure blockbusters. November 16, 2011.
    3. ↑ A piece of history begins to melt
    4. ↑ Google (October 26, 2018). "Highway 3 in the Northwest Territories" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
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