(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - Ketchikan City and Borough officials met with Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities staff members this week to discuss the status of repairs to South Tongass between Surf Street and Deermont and in-city Tongass Highway between Hoadley Creek and White Cliff.

According to DOT staff members, the State has performed extensive pothole repairs over the course of this winter, applying 35 tons asphalt patches.

A news release for the Ketchikan Borough said a team of the Alaska Department of Transportation's design personnel along with paving contractor SECON assessed pavement conditions this week as the department develops plans to repave portions of South Tongass and Tongass Highway. 

Quoting today's news release, DOT officials are attempting to identify an appropriate funding source for the paving project. And Ketchikan City and Borough officials say they are working with the State to expedite the road repairs.

Borough Mayor Rodney Dial commended the State for its focus on Tongass and South Tongass Highway.

“Residents are understandably upset by the current state of Tongass and South Tongass Highway. We will do everything we can as a Borough to secure the funding necessary to address this issue,” Mayor Dial said.

The State will conduct a major reconstruction project on South Tongass Highway approximately 3 miles between Deermount Street in the city limits to Mile Post 5.5 at Surf Street and approximately 1 mile on Tongass Highway from Hoadley Creek Mile Post 0.2000 to White Cliff, Mile Post 1.2798 within the city limits. The Hoadley Creek to While Cliff was scheduled by the Alaska DOT for construction bid in 2021.

The South Tongass Highway Rehabilitation Project is currently in design phase.  Additionally, the process to acquire environmental permits is also being developed. Once the team advances the design to 75%, DOT&PF will begin to appraise and acquire right-of-way, which could include part or all of select properties along the project corridor. 

The South Tongass Highway Rehabilitation Project has two planned construction phases: Phase 1 will construct the southern portion from Saxman to Surf Street. Phase 2 will construct the segment between Deermount Street and Saxman. Both are anticipated to begin in 2022 with timing dependent upon future funding and other considerations.

According to the DOT&PF's project website, the project is progressing on the South Tongass Highway Rehabilitation Deermount Street to Surf Street project. Outreach activities for the project began in 2016 and will continue through construction. According to the DOT's status update on February 03, 2020, the project team is continuing design and had already planned to move into the right-of-way phase this winter/spring. Construction is anticipated to start in 2022.

Over the past year, DOT&PF stated on the project's website they have spent extra time engineering a road to minimize future rockslides in areas with steep cliffs. Work included extensive geotechnical analysis and road design.

Other project design activities on South Tongass from Deermount to Surf Street include:

• Coordination with the City of Saxman and Ketchikan Gateway Borough on new sewer and water utilities.
• Development of retaining wall designs, technical rock cut designs, and 65% design review documents.
• Design for the Joseph C. Williams, Sr., Coastal Trail to create a continuous pedestrian pathway.

Although there has been talk on social media about Ketchikan North Tongass Highway Resurfacing from the Airport Ferry to the Ward Creek Bridge will be done before any South Tongass work, this North Tongass highway section is scheduled for construction bid in 2020 so this project is still years down the road. The last construction on this section of the highway was approximately 30 years ago, the early 90s.

On the Web:

North Tongass Maps: Hoadley Creek to White Cliff area

South Tongas Map: Deermount to Surf Street

To sign up for South Tongass project updates join the DOT Mailing List.

Source of News:

Ketchikan Gateway Borough
www.kgbak.us

Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities
www.dot.alaska.gov

 

Representations of fact and opinions in comments posted are solely those of the individual posters and do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.

SitNews ©2020
Stories In The News
Ketchikan, Alaska

Articles & photographs that appear in SitNews are considered protected by copyright and may not be reprinted without written permission from and payment of any required fees to the proper freelance writers and subscription services. E-mail your news & photos to editor@sitnews.us Photographers choosing to submit photographs for publication to SitNews are in doing so granting their permission for publication and for archiving. SitNews does not sell photographs. All requests for purchasing a photograph will be emailed to the photographer.