Road re-routed so miner can get at Klondike gold

The fight over a controversial placer mine in Dawson City, Yukon, may be over.

The Yukon government has agreed to re-route the Dome Road so a miner can access the gold under the roadbed.  The road passes through a residential area on its way to a scenic look-out on top of the Midnight Dome.

But it also runs directly through Darrell Carey's placer claim. Carey has been fighting with city officials for years to get at the gold under the road. Now it appears the Yukon government has stepped in to end the dispute.
 
Dawson resident Jim Taggart is one of a group of people who've been fighting Carey's mining plans.

"It seems the Yukon Government is going to pay potentially a couple million dollars to relocate the highway to allow him to do something he can't afford to do himself," Taggart said

"And that certainly doesn't sit well with residents."

Dawson City councillors voted by a narrow margin last week to approve the plan. The development proposal says work could start immediately, with plans to have the new road paved and ready by the fall.
    
The government says the new road will improve public safety.