Destruction Bay to AK Border Construction Progress?

Great pic Sue! Yes, Haines is really nice. On our last trip to Canada and Alaska, we drove to Haines and liked it so much that we were able to get a spot for 7 days at the Oceanside CG. The sites are tight back ins but they all face the water and the view is outstanding. From there, we took the Alaska Ferry system to Prince Rupert, BC with intermediate stopovers at Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. Outstanding journey.

The Haines Road is a spectacular drive, in all seasons. Check it out here http://YukonSights.ca/HainesRoad.html

The highway can be a bit busy sometimes...

Well, I guess I found out what condition that section of road was in. We came down through there yesterday and found, as stated above, that quite a bit of it had been resurfaced since we came through on our way up. It had rained the day before, so when we got to the dirt/gravel part there was no dust. I thought we were home free, when all of a sudden we came to the area they were working on and the water truck was working overtime. We followed a pilot truck for about 2-3 miles and the last section the pilot truck was following a grader who was making it smooth enough to drive on. Mud was a few inches deep. I was the lead dog, but by the time we got through, my coach and pickup were covered with thick mud from top to bottom. I spent a couple hours today just getting the top layer off!

We're in Haines now and found the drive down here was worth all that mud. It is a spectacular drive down here, and probably our favorite so far on our trip!

From Tok heading south you have to drive through Destruction Bay regardless if you continue south on the Alaskan Hwy or if you take the Cassier. You have no other choice.

Tarheel 2 wrote:
I'm in Tok and getting ready to make a decision on which way to head south. We want to visit Haines, Skagway, etc. so taking the Alaskan Highway is the closest route. Has anyone been through that area in the past few days to give a road construction progess update? Have they started paving any of it yet?

This is a ongoing project,we took Cassiar 37 this past summer(2015) and found it not really that bad, just drive to the road conditions.

We stayed in Destruction Bay two days ago from Tok. Stopped at Yukon Motel, Liard Hot Springs Lodge and now in Triple G in Ft. Nelson.

The road is better than it was in May, but it still sucks. Most of the Chip Seal is now down that was dirt in May. There are still a few spots requiring pilot vehicles.


Ken

I returned south on that section of the road during the last week in June and there was road construction but the rough sections were there was no road construction. As I recall there were frost heaves in several places, Burwash Landing & Destruction Bay, so you have to slow down, just slow down so you can hit the brakes when you see bad sections. Where there is construction the only issue was the dust but they did have a water truck on one section of the road. I did see an oil truck waiting to shoot the gravel with oil. Just slow down is the best advice I can give.

Tarheel 2 wrote:
We want to visit Haines, Skagway, etc. so taking the Alaskan Highway is the closest route.

It's really the only route, to keep the decision simple :)

I didn't go west of DBay over the weekend, but with all the recent rain even the 8 kms of gravel near Champagne was very rough. I just stayed far right and crawled along, and put on my right turn signal when that wasn't enough of a hint for people to go by.

That area has been under construction for the past 50 years. It has been gravel waiting for asphalt since 2011.

It is prime repair season now, so I'd expect more construction. And because it has been raining a fair bit recently, I doubt there's been much paving underway.

Just figuring...don't know for sure. But I grew up in Beaver Creek so have a bit of historical perspective.