Transportation

The Auke Bay roundabout is supposed to be done by the end of the week.

“Almost over,” project manager Dan Noziska says with a laugh.

The Alaska Department of Transportation engineer says the public has not been shy in commenting on the very visible project.

“It was hard to take a T-intersection and turn it into this roundabout. It’s kind of like remodeling your house. You’re living in it and still have to live with the mess,” he says.

Work began on the traffic circle last July, and was supposed to have been done before winter started. But the project required a lot of fill material and in September it was discovered the soil in the area probably couldn’t handle the fill without settling.

“That issue was not discovered until we starting construction and it should have been during design, and then the whole project schedule would have revolved around that, because you have to let the material settle,” he says.

So DOT delayed the project to give the fill material time to settle.

“And lo and behold it didn’t really settle, but some of the projections by our geotechnical people were that it could have settled,” he says. “If that had been the case that would have been a worse situation to spend all that money to build that concrete circle and curb and gutter, and then have the thing settle.”

Noziska says the current contract with Miller Construction called for completing the roadway part of the project on July 15, but that’s been pushed to Friday.

“There still may be some signing  and things like that, and painting, but the pavement itself should all be down,” he says. At least “that’s what the goal is.”

Noziska knows motorists will be relieved.

The  state-funded project, from acquiring right-of-way to completion, will total nearly $8 million, about $1 million over estimates, Noziska says. Contractor Miller Construction Co. was awarded $5.032 million for construction.

The state has spent nearly $70 million on transportation projects in Sitka over the last five years, and there’s more on the way.

Al Clough is the southeast regional director for the state Department of Transportation. He spoke to the Sitka Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday.

Clough tallied up projects going back to the roundabout: The airport runway extension at $24-million, runway paving at $12 million, Sawmill Creek Road also $12 million, Halibut Point Road — including two new bridges — $20 million, and Harbor Drive from the roundabout to the runway — which is just getting started — at $2 million.

And coming up next, a $12 million gravel road extension from Starrigavan to Katlian Bay.

“The concept there is to construct a single-lane road at low-volume standards, with inter-visible turnouts, to provide recreational access, also access to the rock source that’s in upper Katlian Bay. And potentially be the start of a public roadway network headed in that direction.”

The Katlian Bay road will link the Sitka road system to land owned by Shee Atika, Inc., Sitka’s urban Native Corporation. It will consist of six miles of new construction, and two miles of rehabilitated Forest Service road — open in summer only.

There’s $400,000 in state transportation bonds available to design the project this year. Clough says he’s retained an engineering firm specializing in mountain roads for the project.

“I try to explain Southeast Alaska road building to people who aren’t familiar with the terrain here. The best explanation I can come up with is that it’s like building roads in the mountains, except we don’t have a pass. Our roads are predominantly built along shorelines for the obvious reasons, but we have all the challenges of building through the mountains, it’s just that we don’t have to go up in the high country.”

The Katlian Bay road, plus $900,000 for completion of Sitka’s Cross Trail, are already on the books for the coming year — in a document called the STIP, or Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan.

STIP is a list of realities; another department document, called the Long-Range Transportation Plan, is more about dreams.

Clough discussed Sitka’ most durable transportation vision: a road across the island to either Rodman Bay or Baranof Warm Springs.

“When you start comparing the costs of a completed hard link to a 40 mph standard to Rodman, then you look at what it would cost to punch a tunnel through the mountain — you know, it’s a plan. It’s worth talking about. And we’re looking for feedback.”

A member of the Chamber audience pressed Clough about whether the state should incentivize local hire, given the amount of work happening in Sitka. Clough responded that contractors for marine projects tended to be from out of town, and contractors for road projects tended to be local. He said he had no authority to enforce local hire. Rather, his job was to “get the best value for Alaskans possible.”

More than 50 people gathered in the Government Hill neighborhood yesterday afternoon to protest the demolition of two homes. The state is clearing the land to make way for the proposed but not yet funded Knik Arm Bridge.

“Stop the demolition now! Stop the demolition now!” chanted a group of Anchorage residents from across the city standing in front of a blue house in Government Hill. They waved signs reading “Haste Makes Waste” and “Save our Homes.” Anne Reddig was with them.

“This is my neighborhood,” she said. “I live three houses this way. I don’t want a big gaping hole waiting for something that’s not funded. They’re taking away my neighborhood. They’re ruining where I live.”

Two houses and the old Sourdough Lodge are being demolished in preparation for the proposed $1.6 billion dollar Knik Arm Bridge. So far the state has only secured about $150 million for the project. The protesters say the state is moving too hastily — why should the state remove homes when it’s unclear if the project will actually happen? Most of the federal funding the state is trying to secure has historically gone toward projects in much larger, congested urban areas.

96-year-old Margery Ellis built her home in Government Hill in 1950. It’s set to be demolished during another phase of the project. ”We don’t need terrorists when we have KABATA,” she said, referring to the project’s previous name. “Everything they’ve done is to destroy Government Hill, which is the oldest community in Anchorage.”

Before the protesters gathered, Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jill Reese and the property manager led a tour of the buildings.

“You probably just want to just wait,” the crowd of reporters at the bottom of the wooden stairs was told. “Have three people come up at a time. Because these are not very sturdy.”

The upstairs portion of the blue house was filled with sun from the skylights and soaring windows. But the musty ground floor had ripped up carpet and asbestos ceiling tiles. DOT’s Reese pointed out damage.

“Practically everything in the whole house would need to be redone. And as you’ll see there’s broken bathroom fixtures and those sorts of things.”

Reese said all three buildings are in the way of the bridge project. She explained the state moved quickly to purchase the buildings and relocate the tenants because that process can take a lot of time.

“You can’t wait until you’re ready with the financing to start building the bridge. You might be three or four years down the line just to get properties purchased. Also, especially in the Anchorage Bowl, prices aren’t going down.”

Reese said the state will pay for the removal of the buildings, which could cost between $500,000 to $1 million. Then they’ll be reimbursed if they get the federal grant. And the houses don’t have to be destroyed. Reese said they can also be moved to other parts of town. That’s what happened to some condos when Dowling Road was built.

“What we say is the market will speak. If there’s a dollar to be made on these properties in their whole form then I’m sure that is the route that will be taken. And if not then they will be demolished.”

All of the contractors who were walking through the properties during the protest declined to comment. They were examining the project before submitting bids by the 25th.

Some of the protesters said that it doesn’t matter if they tear down or relocate the buildings — it still leaves a hole in the neighborhood. And Lance Powell from Mid-Hillside said not only people in Government Hill should be concerned.

“Well if it can happen here, it can happen in any neighborhood in Anchorage.”

Powell says empty lots deter businesses and new residents from coming into the area. Others say large roads divide communities and cause deterioration, and that’s not what they want.

“What do we want?” cried a man over a bull horn.

“Homes!” responded the crowd.

“What do we need?” “Homes!” “What will we save?” “Homes!”

DOT has scheduled for the properties to be cleared by November and planted over with grass. They do not have a set schedule for when the bridge would be funded or built.

A Delta Air Lines flight with 109 passengers scheduled to land in Juneau Friday night had to turn around and fly back to Seattle due to fog. This is the first time Delta hasn’t been able to land in Juneau since beginning its summer route at the end of May.

Delta offers one flight a day between Seattle and Juneau. It arrives in Juneau about 9:15 in the evening and departs the following morning just after 6 o’clock.

Delta spokesman Anthony Black says the flight circled around Juneau for a period of time Friday night before turning around. The plane landed in Seattle after midnight.

“Passengers offloaded and due to low hotel volume, we put up the passengers in the airport, so provided pillows, blankets. We provided food and drink for the passengers. And then in the morning, we provided them with coffee and breakfast sandwiches,” Black says.

Delta made a special mid-day flight Saturday which left Seattle late morning and arrived in Juneau around 12:30 p.m., about 15 hours later than planned. Delta flights were back to normal Saturday evening.

Juneau airport manager Patty deLaBruere says small airplane companies also had trouble with the weekend fog.

“The small carriers were really impacted this weekend from Friday on. They were not able to fly for the most part,” deLaBruere says.

Alaska Airlines service in Juneau was mostly uninterrupted. Of 17 daily flights, one didn’t make it. The afternoon flight to Gustavus was cancelled on both Saturday and Sunday.

News that the Federal Highway Trust Fund is running out of money is worrying a lot of states, but not Alaska.

In a letter to transportation departments all over the country earlier this month, the federal Department of Transportation announced that if Congress did not take immediate action, the trust fund would be depleted in a matter of weeks, forcing federal highway officials to institute cash management procedures in August. At that time, federal officials will use a formula established by law to determine how much money each state will receive.

But the shortfall in federal funds is not likely to disturb Alaska’s highway projects.  Jeremy Woodrow, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, says that Alaska has cash management tools that other states don’t have.

“We’ve been working with the department of revenue to ensure that we will be able to fund current projects that are under construction. The state of Alaska is in a good position because our projects are funded out of the general fund.”

Woodrow says Alaska has a financial buffer zone that allows its transportation department to continue, mainly because of the state’s savings account. Alaska pays contractors out of state funds, then bills the Federal Highway Administration for reimbursement. Woodrow says there may be a slowdown in reimbursements at worst. He also says it is not likely that any large Alaska projects will be affected long term.

“Well, large projects such as Juneau Access or the Knik Arm Crossing may be affected in the short term, but if the federal government doesn’t find a solution for a long term, it might affect those projects or the funding of those projects moving forward. But in the near term it shouldn’t affect them too much, because what we are looking at is just a temporary portion of time where we won’t be receiving reimbursements.”

US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx expressed confidence that Congress would act to avoid the shortfall in his July 1 letter to the states. If Congress does not act, federal transportation officials will have to adopt similar restrictions in mass transit reimbursements to the states by fall of this year.

The federal highway trust fund was established in 1956 to finance the country’s highway system. It was expanded in 1982 to include mass transit systems.

A small airplane crashed during take off yesterday morning around 8:25 am at Merrill Field in Anchorage. The pilot and sole occupant is confirmed dead.

Lana Jensen was waiting for her flight to Nondalton when she saw it happen.

“I was just standing there watching the planes take off and noticed that plane was having strut problems. And I just heard it sputter and it went straight down.”

Jensen says she’s not really sure what to think about it. ”It’s kind of traumatizing. I don’t want to go home… just stay here now. But no, I have to go home. I have to go fishing.”

Police arrived on the scene within three minutes of receiving the report of the crash.

All of the runways at Merrill were closed for about an hour, but they have all since reopened.

The Anchorage Police Department says they will likely release the name of the deceased today.