Part of the Dempster Highway will be closed for several days as road crews work to repair damage from washouts at various locations north of km 136.

Heavy rains and high water closed sections of the Dempster mid-day Thursday. The water is knee-deep in some areas.

Doris Wurfbaum, a spokesperson for the Department of Highways and Public Works, said Thursday afternoon it was expected a single lane would be open by the end of the day. Additional washouts, however, have changed that estimate.

Wurfbaum later said the turbulent nature of the water has slowed repairs, as crews had to wait for water to recede to work safely.

The closure is north of Tombstone Mountain.

With the Dempster’s reputation as a popular road trip route, the closure has impacted tourists as well as locals.

According to the Western Arctic Regional Visitor’s Centre in Inuvik, N.W.T., that hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing.

“The positive thing is (those who are stranded) have a little bit more time to experience more of what Inuvik has to offer,” travel counsellor Amber Ritias told the Star morning.

She said a lot of people do try to stick to schedules when they’re travelling in the North, but what they don’t realize is what can happen to schedules so far north.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that driving up here to the Arctic is a whole other experience,” Ritias said.

Travellers know the highway is washed out, but they don’t fully grasp what that means until Ritias shows them photos of the roiling water and entire sections of missing roadway.

At that point, she said, it clicks.

“You know you’re really, really on an adventure.”

Ritias said hotels seem to be faring well, with no overbooking as a result of extended stays. She said prices at the grocery store also seem to be stable, though she notes the town doesn’t tend to see price increases until about a week after losing highway access.

As for this weekend, Ritias said a lot of people signed up for the caribou antler jewellery session at the Visitor’s Centre.

She was also recommending tours of the igloo church and the local greenhouse, a visit to see the library’s large northern book collection, and dropping by Saturday’s Arctic Market.

“Everybody has been generally pretty positive, I guess is the word, about the closure,” she said.

“A lot of people are like, ‘OK, that’s fine. That will give us more time to look around and go to these places,” she said.

“That’s a good thing.”

Stan McNevin, the longtime proprietor of the Eagle Plains Lodge, has been separated from the business by the washout and was unavailable for comment. The Star was told this morning only he can speak publicly about the flooding’s impact on the business.

The Dempster, which links the Dawson City area to Inuvik, officially opened in 1979.

Former prime minister John Diefenbaker, under whose vision the highway was created, had been slated to attend the opening ceremonies, but died 37 years ago this month, before they took place.