There's a whole lot of potholes along Yukon's highways this summer
CBC
The North Klondike Highway connects Dawson City, Yukon, to the territory's capital, Whitehorse.
During the summer months the 533-kilometre stretch of road is used by everyone from hitchhikers to heavy equipment operators, which causes annual wear and tear in the form of cracks, dips, and yes: potholes.
One motorist said the highway is in the worst condition he's ever seen.
'The potholes are outrageous," said Dawson City resident Dave Gregory. "There's potholes all over the place that could easily take a car's tire out."
Gregory recently travelled from Whitehorse and said some sections of the road have become extremely unsafe.
"You know you could be driving down the highway," he said. "A vehicle, big transport or something, coming toward you ... and then all of a sudden half a kilometre of road is just rough with potholes all over the place.
"You can't go in the other lane to avoid it, which most people in the Yukon do ... they tend to travel across the roads depending where the potholes are ... but then you're just going to get slammed, so you're forced to just to hit every single pothole."
The worst section of the North Klondike highway is said to be between Stewart Crossing and the Village of Carmacks.
Gregory said its unacceptable for the highway to be in the state it's in. Especially during tourist season.
"For the cars, and other people who are not used to potholes and roads like this," he said. "It's going to lead to problems. I've seen many vehicles flipped probably due to the potholes. Some due to stupidity, I'm sure, but yeah, compared to previous years, the road is bad."
The Yukon Government's highways and public works department is responsible for maintaining the territory's highways.
Jim Regimbal is the Northern area superintendent for the department of Highways and Public Works.
He said it's been a challenging year for crews trying to keep up with filling the potholes.
"We got hit in the behind quite hard with the floods in Dawson, and Mayo," he said. "As well as the bridge damage at Clear Creek, so we had to prioritize and move equipment and personnel from our camps to ensure that we took care of those things in a timely manner."