With temperatures rising above 0 °C in Dettah and the city of Yellowknife, GNWT Infrastructure has closed the Dettah Ice Road.
On the evening of April 8, the Department of Infrastructure made the call to close the ice gateway indefinitely.
The road stretching across the Great Slave Lake connecting Dettah to the city of Yellowknife is a popular route, frequented in the winter via cars and trucks with a maximum weight of 40, 000 kg. The Dettah Ice Road opens each year in December.
A land-based route that swaddles the coast of Yellowknife Bay also links Dettah to Yelllowknife. It offers an alternative route for drivers during warmer months but adds an extra 20 minutes of driving time.
GNWT’s Ministry of Infrastructure said that over the last 20 years the average closing date for the ice road is April 16
On Sunday the area had a forecast high of about 1 °C but cold winds throughout the afternoon kept the area below the freezing mark.
On Tuesday the afternoon high was forecast at about 2 °C but temperatures of 7 °C were recorded in the area.
By late afternoon roadways and walkways in the city of Yellowknife were filled with huge puddles of melted winter snow, ice and slush.
