Trekkers Hit the Streets

by Dan Davidson

It began last weekend, and continues this weekend and next, as hundreds of snow machines endure the ride from Tok, Alaska, to Dawson City and back in the 11th year of the Trek Over the Top.

To accommodate this influx of riders, the City of Dawson actually has to be

Trek Over the Top machines line 2nd Avenue opposite the Downtown Hotel. Photo by Dan Davidson

careful not to clean too much snow off its streets and leave some part of each intersection unsanded.

Possible impacts on the future of the Trek provided one of the few concerns expressed when the YTG announced the beginning of the Yukon River Bridge Project here on March 3. Chamber members were assured by MLA Jenkins and others that it would be a while before the Top of the World/Taylor Highway (the route followed by the Trek) would be ploughed and open year round, and that even then a way would be found to keep a route open for Dawson's biggest winter tourism event.

Fentie's Folly based on False Hopes

Dear Editor:

In the first part of a recent article (in the Yukon News), Martin Gehrig, the current president of the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce, goes on about how if there were a bridge "people could access the Top of the World an extra three months a year,:"

This is a completely naive belief, based only on the hope the Top of the World would be kept open because of a bridge.

There are a number of reasons why this hope is silly.

First, why would Alaska agree to maintain its side of the road, which would cost it a bundle of money, when it already has a strong connector to the Yukon, the Alaska Highway?

And after this bridge is built, who says the Yukon will be able to afford to maintain one side of the road?

And what if the Yukon government changes hands in the near future and the new politicians don't want to keep the highway open?

When that happens, it will prove to be a political bridge and nothing more.

The weather conditions on the Top of the World are some of the windiest, and drifting snow is extremely common. The road is curvy and dangerous. Who would really want to drive that road in the winter?

And would Canada and the USA both think it worthwhile to keep the border open year round?

So much of the argument for the bridge is based on the idea that the road is going to open up. This idea is totally unrealistic and the Yukon Party knows it.

At a public meeting in Dawson City, Premier Dennis Fentie didn't once mention any contact with Alaska regarding the highway and keeping it open, even though his talk was all about stronger ties with Alaska.

And when asked by an audience member, "Shouldn't the road be open before the bridge is built?" he simply replied, "I think differently."

Something that Fentie seems to forget (and I have no problem reminding him about) is that he is in office to serve the people, not himself and his cabinet members.

My question to Yukoners is: Do you want your tax dollars spent on a bridge to nowhere?

Do you want $30 million spent so that 75 West Dawson residents can have full-time access to Dawson City, even when half of them do not want a bridge?

This is your money that will be spent on the golfers in Dawson, so they do not have to wait in the ferry lineup.

Speak up, Yukoners; it is not too late.

Marieke Hiensch

West Dawson