TERRACE, B.C. — Alaskan mayors recently visited Terrace in an effort to persuade northwestern B.C. to support a plan to build a road connecting the panhandle to Hwy. 37.

Terrace Mayor, Jack Talstra, emerged from the meetings of the mind it should be considered further. However he did have concerns the road would open up the possibility for an Alaskan port, which could eventually steal business from B.C. communities.

“It’s something I think we have to look at with caution, critically, to see where it might go,” Talstra tells local media.

The proposed route would run from the Eskay Creek mine along the Iskut River, up the Craig River and then down to tidewater in Alaska on the Bradfield Canal. If an Alaskan port is built at the end of that road, the B.C. town of Stewart would be vulnerable since timber and ore harvested in the region now travels through Stewart.

“They’ve indicated to us they have no intention of building a port that could handle raw resources at the Bradfield Canal,” says Talstra, noting the Alaskans seem primarily interested in the tourism opportunities the road would create. “The city would want to know some more information and see exactly what it is they have in mind and how it would be beneficial to us in the northwest and to them.”

The high cost of building the road was also discussed, with Alaskan officials saying they hope the U.S. government will foot the majority of the bill.