Dawson City is known around the world on account of the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush. The Klondike is a highly valued part of Canada's heritage and much work has been done by Parks Canada and the community to maintain the buildings and streetscapes in keeping with Dawson's gold rush history. Because of its importance to Yukon's arterial highway system, Front Street is operated and maintained by the Yukon Department of Highways and Public Works. All the other streets in Dawson come under the jurisdiction of the municipal government. Front Street is the only paved street in the community having had a Bituminous Surface Treatment (BST) since the 1980s. Over the years the BST has been the source of many complaints from the community due to its inadequate performance under tour bus and RV traffic. The dust and tracking of oil associated with BST rehabilitation was extremely unpopular with the tourist businesses on Front Street. In 2008 the Yukon Government decided to have an asphalt concrete pavement placed on Front Street. This decision was applauded by the business community but was vociferously opposed by the Dawson Historical Society and the municipal planning board as being a solution incompatible with the community's heritage. The decision to pave also presented an engineering challenge due to the presence of ice-rich permafrost underlying a significant portion of Front Street and a concern that making the surface dark would cause de-stabilization of the permafrost. This project was nominated for the TAC 2009 Environmental Achievement Award. For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD number E220308.
Samenvatting