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Session: State Capitol, Room 434 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Phone: (907) 465-2487 Fax: (907) 465-4956 Send E-Mail Interim: 112 Mill Bay Road Kodiak, AK 99615 Phone: (907) 486-8872 Fax: (907) 486-5264 (at LIO) |
| For Immediate Release: April 8, 2000 | |
| Contact: | Cliff Stone, Legislative Aide to Representative Austerman at (907) 465-2487. |
Juneau -- Representative Alan Austerman (R-Kodiak) has been notified by the Alaska Department of Transportation (DOT) that they are planning on overlaying a section of the Monashka Bay Road. David Eberle, DOT's Central Region Director of Construction and Operations, indicated that about 200 yards of the worst section would be repaved.
Currently this entire project is not scheduled for construction in DOT's Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) until fiscal year 2004. Under the heading of Community Transportation Program (CTP), this rehabilitation project would fix two sections of Rezanof simultaneously. The first is the Monashka Bay section from milepost 3.3 to the end of the pavement and the Women's Bay section from an area past the Coast Guard Station to the end of the pavement. Over $7.3 million has been identified for completion of this endeavor. This project has also been identified as the number one priority on the Kodiak Island Borough Capital Improvement Program (CIP) list.
The Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-first Century (TEA-21) is the most current federal bill describing the surface transportation policy of the U.S. and making allocations for funding in various categories to the states. Under the auspices of this act, a certain percentage of federal dollars may now be used for maintenance, such as overlaying existing pavement.
Specifically, DOT is going to repave about 200 yards that includes the area from the intersection with Mill Bay Road going North into the "dip" of the highway. "The deplorable conditions of this section was just not acceptable any longer," said Austerman. "Once I pressed DOT about utilizing funding under TEA-21 authorization, they agreed to fix the worst section. I am still in negotiations with DOT to temporarily fix other sections that have deteriorated to a point that it presents itself as a significant hazard to the citizens of Kodiak."
In addition, DOT is going to reevaluate this project to make certain that it receives all the points possible in its priority ranking system. This could lead to an earlier construction date for the entire project.