Will the Monkman Pass Highway in Northeastern BC be constructed?  Is
there any current research into construction of the Highway?

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Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 15 Sep 2004 23:40 PDT

joycelgs-ga:

The name "Monkman Pass Highway" was first used in the mid-30's in
reference to a project initiated by Alex Monkman (after whom the pass
is named) to attempt to build a highway from the Peace River region to
the Pacific coast. You can read a bit about it here:

http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/monkman/nat_cul.htm

As the entire region around Monkman Pass is now incorporated into
Monkman Provincial Park, it is extremely unlikely that any major road
will ever be built through Monkman Pass. Even the Monkman Lake Trail
has restrictions on the use of mountain bikes, horses, or llamas, due
to the highly protected nature of this park.

May I ask what prompted your question? Is there some information that
you have come across that leads you to believe that there is renewed
interest in building the MPH?

Thanks,

aht-ga
Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Question by joycelgs-ga on 16 Sep 2004 10:52 PDT

Hello,  I was raised close to Beaverlodge Alberta and now live in
Prince George BC.  My brother still farms there and I have first hand
knowledge of the disadvantages they face getting their produce to
market.  When I visit I often ask people why they do not stop at my
place when they go to Vancouver and the answer is we go via Grande
Cache, as it is a lot shorter.  This by-passes Prince George, thus a
loss in tourist dollars which Prince George (a high unemployment area)
could certainly use.  I am a hugh protector of our natural heritage
such as the protected area at Monkman; however, there are mines and a
lot of oil and gas activity in the area.  I was just talking to a
friend who works in forestry and he told me that they go almost to
where the early pioneers left their car in the pass.  I know that
people go thru there on horseback.  Research in the 1970's determined
that this was the prefered route for a rail line.  It appears that
parts of the area are being developed for the 'high end tourist' which
of course is a fly-in and leaves the ordinary person (like me) out of
the loop.  There is talk about a road to Kawaka.  Any development in
the area would need to be highly protected, but I wonder what goes on
with the mines and the oil and gas exploration?  A route through this
area could be controlled and would be of hugh economic benefit to the
economic development of both Prince George and the Peace River
country.  The area is always looking at economic development and
instead of the industry exploitation of the area, why not look at the
tourist development?  It seems to me that there is a hugh economic
base in having a severely protected transportation route in this area.
 Prince Rupert is apparently building a large container Port and
Prince George is apparently going to be the container center.  It just
does not make sense that produce needs to go twice the distance to get
to Prince George when there could be a route (apparently not a
difficult engineering problem)directly from the Alberta Peace to
Prince George.  Another route:  The rail to the now closed mines in
Tumbler Ridge goes from Bear Lake to Tumbler and there is a road from
Tumbler to Dawson Creek.  I believe that if there is a railway in this
route there could also be a highway which would link Prince George to
Dawson Creek, BC which is a hugh farming area.  It seems to me that if
there is already a railway, there could also be a highway.  Joyce