Other Manitoba and Saskatchewan Developments - Page 75

Hecate · #**1481** Posted **Jan 29, 2019, 3:33 PM**

300000 people a year travel the Alaska highway, it would be similar to the Churchill road in construction. Alaska’s main source of tourism is the cruises. If Alaska can do it so can we. It would become a bucket list type destination. Over 4,000,000 people a year visit Yellowstone national park in Wyoming... a state with less than 600,000 people. The park isn’t next to any major cities drawing tourists. It’s in the middle of nowhere. People go because it’s properly marketed and it’s accessible for everyone. You can stay in an expensive lodge or you you can camp in a cheap tent. How many people saw that price is right thing and thought that would be cool to go to Churchill... . only to find out it’s five grand a person and only for three days. You could take a family of four to Mexico for a week for the price of one person going to Churchill.

drew · #**1482** Posted **Jan 29, 2019, 3:59 PM**

^ Yellowstone is way more accessible than any of these northern communities, and it could be argued that no where in the lower 48 states is really that "isolated". Certainly not in comparison to Churchill. I have been to Yellowstone twice in the last 10 years, and we just went this past summer. It also has three ways in and out.

Churchill as it stands now is reasonably accessible. The best way to do it is to drive (on paved roads) to Thompson, and then catch the train from there.

Alaska is a right of passage type road trip that is mostly traveled by wealthy retirees from the southern US states (I have recently been to Whitehorse in the summer to see it firsthand). You take your RV on a massive road trip to visit a far flung state. These types of RVs are not going to be driving on hundreds of kilometres of gravel roads up to Churchill.

cheswick · #**1483** Posted **Jan 29, 2019, 4:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hecate

300000 people a year travel the Alaska highway, it would be similar to the Churchill road in construction. Alaska’s main source of tourism is the cruises. If Alaska can do it so can we. It would become a bucket list type destination. Over 4,000,000 people a year visit Yellowstone national park in Wyoming... a state with less than 600,000 people. The park isn’t next to any major cities drawing tourists. It’s in the middle of nowhere. People go because it’s properly marketed and it’s accessible for everyone. You can stay in an expensive lodge or you you can camp in a cheap tent. How many people saw that price is right thing and thought that would be cool to go to Churchill... . only to find out it’s five grand a person and only for three days. You could take a family of four to Mexico for a week for the price of one person going to Churchill.

The average low in January in Juneau Alaska is -4C. Average low in Churchill is -31C.

Juneau port is accessible 365 days a year. Churchill port is accessible 3-4 months of the year.

So no, Churchill is no where similar to Alaska.

Yellowstone is remote? There are probably over 100 million people within the same driving time of that park that it would take to drive from Winnipeg to Churchill.

bomberjet · #**1484** Posted **Jan 29, 2019, 4:27 PM**

Providing road access won't be a eureka moment. What it will do is start the process. Cost of services would go down as stuff can be trucked in vs being shipped by rail or air or sea. It would spur competition. And hell yes I'd drive there!

WildCake · #**1485** Posted **Jan 29, 2019, 5:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hecate

300000 people a year travel the Alaska highway, it would be similar to the Churchill road in construction. Alaska’s main source of tourism is the cruises. If Alaska can do it so can we. It would become a bucket list type destination. Over 4,000,000 people a year visit Yellowstone national park in Wyoming... a state with less than 600,000 people. The park isn’t next to any major cities drawing tourists. It’s in the middle of nowhere. People go because it’s properly marketed and it’s accessible for everyone. You can stay in an expensive lodge or you you can camp in a cheap tent. How many people saw that price is right thing and thought that would be cool to go to Churchill... . only to find out it’s five grand a person and only for three days. You could take a family of four to Mexico for a week for the price of one person going to Churchill.

Churchill is roughly 1000km as the crow flies from Winnipeg. No other major city is nearby.

Major cities within 1000km of Old Faithful (arguably the main attraction of Yellowstone), as the crow flies:
Denver, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City.

Vancouver, Edmonton, Sacramento, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City are also just outside this 1000km.

Yellowstone is also near other parks, attractions, and amenities so people can make a road trip out of going to Yellowstone and the US Rockies. Churchill has Churchill, nothing except maybe York Factory to make a trip out of, so you have to be going there exclusively for Churchill and its attractions, not something to see on the way, as some people might treat Old Faithful, which would count towards the tourist count.

Churchill currently has no roads, and would probably require a gas station midway between Gillam and Churchill (270kms total), with nothing in between to justify doing a road building project in phases. Yellowstone is well linked.

Night and day in terms of comparison.

1ajs · #**1486** Posted **Jan 29, 2019, 6:18 PM**

churchill already gets cruise ships.......

and most people who go there only fly in for the day to see the bears

rrskylar · #**1487** Posted **Jan 29, 2019, 6:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hecate

300000 people a year travel the Alaska highway, it would be similar to the Churchill road in construction. Alaska’s main source of tourism is the cruises. If Alaska can do it so can we. It would become a bucket list type destination. Over 4,000,000 people a year visit Yellowstone national park in Wyoming... a state with less than 600,000 people. The park isn’t next to any major cities drawing tourists. It’s in the middle of nowhere. People go because it’s properly marketed and it’s accessible for everyone. You can stay in an expensive lodge or you you can camp in a cheap tent. How many people saw that price is right thing and thought that would be cool to go to Churchill... . only to find out it’s five grand a person and only for three days. You could take a family of four to Mexico for a week for the price of one person going to Churchill.

Seriously, comparing Alaska to northern Manitoba?

dennis · #**1488** Posted **Jan 30, 2019, 8:28 AM**

I don’t even know why people bring up tourism as the most important use of a hypothetical road to Churchill. I am thinking of it as primarily a freight route. I would think a winter road would be appropriate. Currently there is none. (As far as I know.)

bomberjet · #**1489** Posted **Jan 30, 2019, 4:43 PM**

^ This Dennis. It would provide the communities with the most basic service.

rrskylar · #**1490** Posted **Feb 1, 2019, 9:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bomberjet

^ This Dennis. It would provide the communities with the most basic service.

For what it would cost for a road you could give each resident a $ million and tell them good luck somewhere else!

Stormer · #**1491** Posted **Feb 1, 2019, 9:24 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrskylar

For what it would cost for a road you could give each resident a $ million and tell them good luck somewhere else!

A winter road maybe, but an all weather road would be enormously expensive. Hundreds of millions.

cheswick · #**1492** Posted **Feb 1, 2019, 9:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormer

A winter road maybe, but an all weather road would be enormously expensive. Hundreds of millions.

Yeah, that's what he's getting at. You could give each of churchills 900 residents a $million to — off.

Dengler Avenue · #**1493** Posted **Feb 28, 2019, 6:23 AM**

https://www.westerninvestor.com/news/sas...wake-to-investors-in-manitoba-1.23647847

esquire · #**1494** Posted **Feb 28, 2019, 2:22 PM**

^ OK, this is a total sidebar, but it's interesting that Portage's head of economic development is former wrestler Vern May (aka Vance Nevada).

Until very recently, former wrestler Don Callis (aka The Natural/Jackyl) was the President of Manitoba Trade and Investment.

Who knew that our wrestlers had so much economic development expertise? What's next, Chris Jericho as Minister of Finance?