The Greater Copper Valley Chamber of Commerce held an online meeting on Thursday February 25. The meeting hosted Alaska DOT Northern Region Director Ryan Anderson and Information Officer Caitlyn Frye, who presented information about upcoming 2021 road construction projects. There were a little over 20 attendees, tuning in from Tok, Chistochina, Cordova, and many places in between. District 9 House Representative George Rauscher was also in attendance.

This year the Northern Region will execute $225 million in contracts, with 90% of those dollars coming from the federal government. There are 46 projects in 11 communities, including highways and aviation. The Copper River Valley will undergo $60-70 million in road construction.

The work that had been concentrated around Valdez in recent years is largely finished, and now the projects are moving north. There will be reconstruction or re- surfacing at Richardson Highway miles 159-167, 138-148, and 82-97. Each one of those projects could have up to 20 minute traffic delays for a potential combined delay of an hour. There also are likely to be some night time blasting closures from miles 159-167.

“We know that it’s going to have a huge impact on the trucking industry and people running up and down the Richardson and hitting all three projects,” said Frye. She said the DOT is “working hard to make sure people know what to expect.”

Solutions are being sought to coordinate traffic control, and the DOT is working with the Alaska Trucking Association to get their input. Frye said the department is “trying to get better at coordinating with communities.”

The project from miles 82-97 will be a repaving project that is scheduled to take one season. The DOT is still working on the bids for it.

The 138-148 mile project is scheduled to be a two season rehabilitation project. QAYAQ, a North Slope corporation subsidiary, was awarded the contract. They will rehabilitate the embankment, replace culverts, put in new pavement, and do some excavation. This will be a $10 million project.

The 159-167 mile project that has been ongoing is scheduled to enter its third and final year this year. It includes blasting, straightening, and a new bridge at Haggard Creek. This is the first improvement on this section of road since the 1950s. The contractor is QAP, and it is a $27 million project.

Other Copper Valley area projects on the schedule for this summer include re- placing the Chokosna River Bridge on the McCarthy Road and partnering with Copper River Watershed Project to replace Crystal Creek culverts.

There is also $2 million allocated for small repairs such as pavement and pothole repairs in the Tazlina area. Anderson noted that there are only specific things that funding can be spent on, and they do not include vegetation clearing or snow removal.

Spot resurfacing with chip seal or high float on the Lake Louise Road was scheduled for 2022, but Anderson says he is trying to move the project to 2021, acknowledging the road is “in tough shape.”

DOT will also be working on the Gulkana River boat launch. The one lane bridge will be replaced with a two lane bridge. The boat launch will remain where it is, but parking will be moved from the south to the north side. There will be restrooms and a place for trash. Anderson stated the access will remain the same while the facility is under construction.

Outside of the Copper Valley, there will be quite a few projects on the Glenn Highway. Drivers can expect these to impact travel time to Anchorage.

Anderson acknowledged that winter storm response in the Tazlina area has met target times set by the DOT 26% of the time. He said that the Department is trying to improve this figure by using larger machines and taking better advantage of road weather information systems.

Frye’s presentation included describing how DOT is working to improve communication with the public. She is hoping to have an in-house interactive construction map for 2021 projects on the DOT website by April. She also recommended the website alaskanavigator.org for information about construction projects, traffic impacts, and project engineer contact information. Frye asked for feedback about the 511 system, saying that her team frequently makes changes based on user feedback. She listed some of the features 511 users can access, including “favoriting” frequently viewed highway cameras, viewing weather information and forecasts, and setting up alerts on the mobile app. Finally, Frye highlighted DOTs social media efforts including posting updates, photos, and safety information on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Anderson and Frye took questions from attendees after their presentations.

Paul Rude, CRNA CEO, brought up CRNA’s desire to have a turn lane for people turning in to their facility. Anderson stated that he understood the utility of a turn lane there, and that the department had even gone so far as to do some design work on it. However, he stated that funding is an issue for “small turn lanes into communities. Unless we have a big project going, we don’t have any way to fund them.”

Ahtna, Inc Special Projects Manager Bruce Cain asked about the best way for vendors such as fuel, food, and hotel services to anticipate construction crew needs and schedules. Anderson said contacting the contractors directly is the best way for vendors to find out whether they can do business with them. He said the information about which contractors have been awarded bids is on the DOT website (http://dot.alaska. gov/project_info/), but acknowledged it can be “a bit buried.” The DOT also sent project handouts for the local area to the Chamber of Commerce, with updates expected in April.

Interim Gulkana Tribal Administrator Roberta "Robin" Eleazer asked for an update on whether a flashing light, turn lane, and speed limit reduction were confirmed as part of the plan for the Gulkana boat launch. In a follow-up phone conversation, she expressed concern about danger to the community from high speed traffic. "I liken it to the hooligan fishery on the Turnagain Highway," she said. "How many accidents were involved there before they finally did something? We already know that this boat launch is going to be used. We want it to be used safely."

Jeremy Weld requested a speed limit reduction around the turn into Gulkana. He described both Fairbanks residents attempting one-day round trips to Chitina and double tankers as safety hazards for locals. “Someday a double tanker’s going to head down that hill and there will be a school bus heading into Gulkana village and the two will meet,” he said. Anderson said he will take the comments back to DOT. He also said the discouragement around reducing speed limits is that people may not follow them. Anderson said DOT is “looking at” putting in a turn lane to make the entrance to Gulkana safer.

There was little other Chamber business outside of the main presentation. Margaret Billinger made an announcement that she had received calls from people moving into the area looking for homes, but she is “low on inventory.” If you have a house to sell, please give her a call!

Chamber president John Becker also initiated a discussion as to whether the Zoom format for Chamber meetings was valuable. The Chamber had not been meeting at all since the annual meeting, due to coronavirus concerns. One advantage of the online format Becker cited was that people from farther afield, who might not have driven in for an in-person meeting, were in attendance. Becker himself was at his new store in Tok, and would not have been able to attend an in-person meeting.

Some members expressed that they did not want to meet in a restaurant or other public environment with the ongoing pandemic still a concern. Others said they did desire the quality of an in person meeting. The discussion overall was extremely compassionate, with all members listening to and valuing each others’ point of view and comfort level. In the end, it was tentatively decided that future meetings could take a hybrid format with some members meeting in person and a Zoom option available. The next meeting will be on March 25 at 6pm, with the invited speaker TBD.

Article by Allison Sayer