Abstract Manager

Climate change is one of the major threats to transportation systems in the Canadian North. One area in which remote indigenous communities are particularly at risk to the impacts of climate change is with regards to their reliance on winter (ice) roads and traditional trails. The winter road/trail networks in Canada’s Territorial North (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut) encompass seasonal roads and trails that are usable only during the winter. Winter road users rely on them for their yearly supplies of fuel, construction materials, and other bulk commodities that are too expensive for air transportation. The public and private sectors rely on these roads for their operations. These networks also play an important socio-economic role within fly-in remote northern communities, as it affords to link between the communities and subsistence activities and impacts the economic development potential of those communities. It also integrates with other transportation modes; for instance, the unexpected closure of a winter road has an impact on air transportation.

Currently, there is no comprehensive map of the winter surface transportation network, (i.e., roads, sea ice routes, and trails), either in print or online, that can house available data (from transport operations to environmental conditions) for the three territories, to support future work by Canadian governments, consultants, and researchers. In this presentation, we will introduce the latest development of our multiyear project which is to develop a user-friendly online portal – Winter Road and Trail Data Information Portal (WRTDIP). This online portal will combine an interactive web map with data and information that includes transportation, climate, and socio-economic components of winter/trail networks, and this will guide effective decision-making and policy prioritization on the management of winter roads, access roads, and trails in Canada’s Territorial North.