Alaska takes public comment on new long-term plan for roads, bridges and more

Before Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration leaves office in December, it’s planning to put its stamp on Alaska’s roads, bridges and infrastructure one last time.

Earlier this month, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities published a draft version of the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, which outlines construction and major maintenance plans through 2030. 

DOT is taking public comments on the draft through Oct. 29, and an online public comment meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. Oct. 6. 

In a meeting of the Senate Transportation Committee last week, DOT Deputy Commissioner Catherine Keith said the agency’s “goal is, if we can stay on schedule, to have an approved ’27 to 2030 STIP by December, mid-December.”

Alaska’s new governor will be sworn into office in the first week of December.

DOT Commissioner Ryan Anderson said the STIP includes more than $1 billion in projects for the Alaska Marine Highway System, including new ferries and terminals. 

Next year, construction companies are expected to bid on $847 million in contracting opportunities of all kinds, he said.

Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, asked why the department is issuing a draft STIP now, instead of in the spring, as is traditional. 

The draft document is missing components from local planning organizations that haven’t yet finished their work, he noted.

“We were actually hoping to get this STIP out last spring,” Anderson said, but other priorities got in the way. DOT has previously struggled to meet deadlines for transportation planning.

There isn’t a designated time of year for the STIP, he said, “and we want to be ahead of the deadlines … from our previous four-year STIP.” 

Some of the projects in the STIP involve road maintenance and pothole patching. Sen. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, noted that some people in his district are getting fed up with the condition of some roads.

“Can a community member go out on that highway and dump a bag of that junk that you can get at Home Depot and just solve the problem in a minute?” he asked.

“Yeah, we would prefer that people didn’t do that,” Anderson said.

There are legal liability issues, he said, and the best thing to do when the road gets bad is to contact DOT’s maintenance and operations section.