Every dollar spent on the West Susitna Access Road Project is a dollar not spent on maintaining the roads Alaskans rely on every day.
Published: 6 hours agoIn 2012, I traveled with the Mat-Su road superintendent evaluating bridge and culvert issues throughout the borough. I remember him telling me that the borough has more than 1,000 miles of roads and how difficult and costly it is to keep up with their maintenance.
for the West Susitna Access Road. We were tasked with finding a route to the West Susitna mining district. We evaluated numerous routes, including from tidewater at Cook Inlet, where swamps and lack of gravel made construction impractical, and along the south side of the Skwentna River, where avalanches and more swamps posed challenges. We settled on the only practical route: a difficult-to-construct 100-mile corridor from Big Lake, across the Big and Little Susitna rivers, then across and along the north side of the Skwentna River to near the confluence of Portage Creek and the Skwentna River. This project has now been broken into phases, with the first phase a 22-mile road from near Big Lake to and across the Susitna River. The project description states that its purpose is to connect the highway system to state recreational lands west of the Susitna River. Since performing the reconnaissance work, I have followed this project as it morphed from a mining access road to a “recreational access” road. Rarely mentioned is why this road is difficult and expensive to build: It crosses a lot of moving water.preliminary engineering report , the proposed route crosses 156 streams, creeks and rivers. Of those, 145 crossings would require culverts, about 90 of which must allow fish passage. Eleven crossings would require bridges, four of them considered complex because of construction challenges, extensive in-water work, span length or deep canyons. The four complex bridges are the Susitna River, at 2,160 feet; the Skwentna River, at 600 feet; the Happy River, at 600 feet; and Portage Creek, at 550 feet. For context, the longest bridge in Southcentral Alaska is the Glenn Highway crossing of the Knik River at about 1,500 feet. This project would exceed that. The three shorter complex bridges still span deep canyons and would require tall, expensive piers similar to those used at Canyon Creek on the Seward Highway. Seven additional bridges, while shorter, would still be challenging to construct in such a remote area. That remoteness also makes cost estimates uncertain and increases the risk of overruns.The culverts are no small matter either. Fish passage requirements mean they must be significantly oversized and filled with gravel and rock to mimic natural streambeds, adding substantially to cost. All of this infrastructure is expensive to build, operate and maintain. Bridges require regular inspection and repair. Culverts can ice up, wash out or corrode. The remote location will only increase those costs.of the 100-mile road at $357 million. Adjusted for inflation, that approaches $500 million in today’s dollars. AIDEA has said development and upkeep would be funded by mining activity.allocates $80 million from 2025 to 2027 for the first phase and $55 million after 2027 for additional bridges. That raises a key question: Why is the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities now funding a project initially tied to private mining development?Alaska has no shortage of transportation needs. The Dalton Highway alone has hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance. Across Anchorage, the Mat-Su and the Kenai Peninsula, projects remain delayed or unfunded. And who will pay to maintain this road? The Mat-Su Borough, which already struggles to keep up with maintenance? Or the state, whose transportation department is already underfunded? The Department of Transportation should not spend $135 million of its limited budget on what is now described as a recreational road, especially when it is the first phase of a $500 million project that primarily benefits private mining ventures. Every dollar spent on the West Susitna Access Project is a dollar not spent on maintaining and improving the roads Alaskans rely on every day. Those core needs should come first, not costly bridges to nowhere.is a civil engineer who has performed reconnaissance and hydrologic studies for roads throughout Alaska.The Anchorage Daily News welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Oak Park West Suburban hospital closes doors after Resilience Health suspension announcementFurloughs due to billing problems come months after Weiss Hospital in Uptown, also owned by Resilience Health, largely shuttered
Read more »
Man hospitalized after far West Side rollover crash, San Antonio police sayA 45-year-old man was hospitalized with minor injuries after a single-vehicle rollover crash on the far West Side, according to San Antonio police.
Read more »
Opinion: City should use managed competition to address fiscal crisisOutsourcing is an effective tool that can help reduce costs without new taxes or fees.
Read more »
Penn Vet is eyeing a composting facility for dead animals in West MarlboroughThe New Bolton Center Hospital is in the preliminary stages of a proposed composting facility to sustainably dispose of its deceased patients.
Read more »
Insight Hospital CEO in talks to help West Suburban Medical Center after sudden closureWith just two days' notice, West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park has shut down, and all patients are being cleared out by the end of the day on Friday, but the CEO of another hospital is offering to help.
Read more »
EXCLUSIVE: The Things We Do Expands to West Hollywood With Fifth LocationThe Things We Do, founded by Vanessa Lee, is opening a West Hollywood location on Melrose Avenue.
Read more »