DCHP-2

ice road DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Outdoors, Transportation

  a road built on the frozen surfaces of rivers or lakes, or over marshes or muskeg, that can only be used in winter (see Image 1).

  Type: 4. Culturally Significant — This is a culturally salient term for a northern nation such as Canada. While DCHP-1 only lists winter road, the concept seems to be more frequently expressed by ice road today (apparently since the early 1970s). The term's history, however, is old (see the 1850 quotation). Climate change today (see the 2012 quotation) is already causing transportation problems in the far Arctic North. Note that DARE, s.v. "ice road" refers to an artifically made road, made by sprinkling water on a surface for freezing.
  See also COD-2, s.v. "ice road", which is marked "Cdn", ITP Nelson, s.v. "ice road", which is marked "Canadian", while Gage-5 lists the term without a regional label.

  See also: ice-road (DCHP-1)  muskeg  winter road defs. (2a) & (3)