The Daily Alaska empire., 1944-09-25
DEDICATION OF
 SkEENA HIGHWAY
 MADE THIS MONTH

On September the people oi
 Northern British Columbia for-
 mally dedicated the Skeena High way. Elaborate ceremonies were
 colrducted at the Town of Terrace
 or. the Skeena River about 1O0
 miles inland from Prince Rupert,
 where the construction crews on the
 two ends of the road recently met.
 Tho people of Prince Rupert had
 been working increasingly for this
 project since the founding of that
 seaport town in 1906.
 The Skeena Hig hway places
 Prince Rupert on the general high
 way system that extends through
 out Canada and the United States.
 It was built by the Province ot
 British Columbia which has been
 gradually extending the provincial
 road from the south to the north, up the Frazer River Valley past
 Williams Lake and the Quesnel
 mining region to Prince George 525
 miles from the starting point at Vancouver. After completing the next section of 305 miles between Prince George and Hazelton, con struction came to standstll Tor a number of years. The pressure of the present war in the Pacific clinched the matter of bringing the road on through the Coast Range Mountains and along the Skeena River to an ocean terminus at Prince Rupert. The distance from Hazelton to Prince Rupert is about ITO miles and from Vancouver, ap- proximately 1000 miles. The south cad of this long highway is paved but the north end has a gravel sur face The Skeena Highway section has width of 20 feet
 This new road is expected to ex- ert great influence on Alaska after the close of the war. when auto travel returns to it's pre-war volume and perhaps reaches much higher volume than was ever known before. It brings the road system of the entire United States and Canada to the Port of Rupert on the Inside Passage, while the new ly constructed cutoff" road lead ing from Haines at the northern terminus of the Inside Passage connects with Anchorage and Fair banks in the heart of Alaska, it is logical to believe that some com pany will shortly see the excellent business. opportunity of furnishing a passenger and auto carrying ser vice along the 420-mile stretch of protected waterways between these two road terminals, Not only would it serve through travel but it would place Southeastern Alaska on main thoroughfare between the States and interior portions of the Territory. It would also give the residents of these Southeastern Alaska towns an opportunity to take tht 1T cars with them on trips either to the north or the south, while auto tourists to Alaska would have the chance to see the finest scenic section of the Territory and, more over, to see it in highly comfort able way-that is, from the deck of a steamer. The time required to cruise along this 420-mile stretch of fiords would provide welcome two days rest in the long motor drive to and from Alaska.
 Regional Forester Frank Heintz- lenlan had an article on this land Hand route to the Territory in an issue of the Alaska Life maga- zine last winter under the title of Auto Ferry to Alaska The article the importance to every one along the route, both in Alaska and British Columbia, and espec- iaily to residents of the towns of Southeastern Alaska and Prince Rupert of building this new trans porte tion. route. A concentrated effort is expected to be made to get the necessary steamer service on the Insloc Passage, to obtain improved suracing on both stretches of the road system, and to encourage the establishment of connecting bus service over these roads and the