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 kilometres (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) east, 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.

El puente Deh Cho se inauguró el 30 de noviembre de 2012 y reemplazó al puente de hielo/ferry. ^{[ 1 ]} Los camiones pagan peaje en los cruces en dirección norte, y los camiones preinscritos que utilizan un dispositivo electrónico se cobran automáticamente. Los vehículos de pasajeros privados no pagan peaje. Los costos estimados se han triplicado con creces desde 2003. ^{[ 2 ] [ 3 ]} La autopista Tłı̨chǫ (Autopista 9), que va desde la autopista Yellowknife cerca de Behchokǫ̀ hasta Whatì , se inauguró en 2021.