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AK-2 extension to Nome

Started by agentsteel53, January 07, 2013, 10:05:42 AM

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cpzilliacus

Quote from: oscar on July 12, 2013, 12:54:12 PM
Well, maybe the western end of the serum run (the part north of the Yukon River).  The rest of the road will more or less follow the Yukon River, and lead to Fairbanks (via Manley HS and Tanana), more than 300 miles north of Anchorage, which even by Alaskan standards is a long way. 

Since Alaskans use highway names much more often than route numbers, ADOT&PF will probably pay more attention to selection of the name than of the route number. 

Nome Highway?
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.


english si


kkt


richllewis

#53
This notice is about a bridge replacement on Tofty Road section of the Road to Tanana part of the road to Nome. Obviously this bridge was judged too narrow for the future road role Tofty Rd is to play on this road. This is on a creek on the way to Tofty, AK. The DOTPD in Alaska is asking for an easement to reconstruct the bridge.

http://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/View.aspx?id=169423


richllewis

One more thing about the Road to Tanana is the existing Elliot Hwy between the Dalton Hwy and Manley Hot Springs. On the Elliot Hwy they are proposing reconstruction and realignment of a Portion of the highway near Minto, AK. The notice is at:

http://dot.alaska.gov/nreg/elliott107/

getemngo

Fun fact: Tanana (152.08° W) is farther west than Anchor Point on AK 1 (151.77° W), the current "westernmost point in the North American highway system."

I knew Anchor Point would have to change the sign (obviously) if this highway happened, but I'm surprised it could happen on the first stage.
~ Sam from Michigan

richllewis


The road to Tanana is funded through the Road to Resources program. For FY 2013,  The Alaska Legislature allocated 10 million Dollars for FY 2013. This is for all the preliminary work such as procuring Right away and preliminary Environmental work. This is one of those roads that is a priority in that it opens up access to the Tanana Area to development including mining and oil exploration. This is one of 3 areas that the state is pushing under this program.

http://dot.alaska.gov/roadstoresources/projects.shtml

cpzilliacus

Quote from: richllewis on September 19, 2013, 02:41:04 AM

The road to Tanana is funded through the Road to Resources program. For FY 2013,  The Alaska Legislature allocated 10 million Dollars for FY 2013. This is for all the preliminary work such as procuring Right away and preliminary Environmental work. This is one of those roads that is a priority in that it opens up access to the Tanana Area to development including mining and oil exploration. This is one of 3 areas that the state is pushing under this program.

http://dot.alaska.gov/roadstoresources/projects.shtml

Development and exploitation of natural resources is a major source of economic activity in Alaska, and that alone would seem to justify construction of the highway all the way to Nome would seem to make sense.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

Grzrd

Quote from: Grzrd on February 08, 2013, 11:51:15 PM
The Corps of Engineers is conducting a Deep Draft Port Study for the Nome/Port Clarence region

This article reports on the possibility of a Norwegian shipping company establishing a transshipment port in western Alaska, and it mentions the possible deep draft port at Nome/Port Clarence as well as "planners examining the rail and road links from Nome/Port Clarence to Fairbanks":

Quote
Tschudi Shipping Co., one of the oldest shipping firms in Norway, will begin exploring the possibility of establishing a transshipment port in western Alaska, Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell said ....
Discussions with Tschudi began several weeks ago in Iceland and continued last week during a two-day workshop organized by the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and the Institute of the North in cooperation with the Norwegian Embassy in Washington and the Center for High North Logistics to explore shipping opportunities.
The workshop was part of an ongoing study being conducted by UAF for the Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED) to look at the economic opportunities and impacts that could accrue to Alaska from Arctic shipping. Presenters included U.S. Army Corp of Engineers on plans for a deep-draft port at Port Clarence and Nome, experts in Arctic ice conditions, planners examining the rail and road links from Nome/Port Clarence to Fairbanks, and those with experience in shipping along Russia's Northern Sea Route ....
Treadwell said the collaboration on a potential Alaska transshipment port location is a direct result of the Dept. of Commerce effort. The Commerce/UAF study will help Alaska present its case, as ports in Japan and Russia could serve the same purpose.
"Western Alaska ports, including the deep-draft ports proposed for Port Clarence and Nome, may be at the same point in our economic history that the Anchorage and Fairbanks airports were in the 1950s at the dawn of the jet age. Regular Arctic shipping is coming just as polar aviation came in the last generation," Treadwell said. "Our strategic position in the air cargo world supplies tens of thousands of jobs here today, and trans-polar shipping may have similar potential in the next 50 years."

Nome has the potential to evolve into an important Alaskan multimodal center, which in turn could lead to an increasing impetus to build the road (as well as a rail link).

Grzrd

Quote from: Grzrd on November 14, 2013, 10:52:00 AM
This article reports on ... "planners examining the rail and road links from Nome/Port Clarence to Fairbanks"

On the other hand, this Nov. 25 article indicates that the project is in the deep freeze:

Quote
"There is no 'Road to Nome Project,'" said Hannah Blankenship, spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Transportation ....
Jeff Ottesen, the state's top highway planner.
The state has no plans to build a road to Nome, and no prospects for being able to fund such a byway, he said ....
Ottesen said there is no active road to Nome project, but he acknowledged that the Tanana project could later become part of such a road. "There are some people who are saying 'You are going to Tanana with the current project, and that's just the first step,'" he said. "I supposed you could argue that on a technical basis but that doesn't mean the next step is imminent."
The Tanana Road will be unpaved, barely above what the state calls a "pioneer road," but it will provide access to Tanana, he said.
The Western Alaska Access Planning Study recommended a staged approach for the project, with a connection to Tanana being the first stage ....

cpzilliacus

Quote from: Grzrd on December 04, 2013, 08:06:58 PM
On the other hand, this Nov. 25 article indicates that the project is in the deep freeze:

This at the end of the story:

QuoteLois Epstein, a long-time watcher of state transportation projects, said the Nome road looks dead, and she believes it should be. The state has already spent too much on unworkable projects, she said.

What defines an unworkable project?  Perhaps one that Ms. Epstein does not approve of?

Quote"We have a governor who never says 'no' to a project, never looks at how you are going to finance these big projects, whether they are transportation or energy, over the long run," she said. Epstein, formerly director of the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, is currently Arctic Program manager for the Wilderness Society.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

richllewis

#61
The Army Corp of Engineers have advanced their study on a possible port in Western Alaska. The following article says that the Corp's Alaska Office has made their decision concerning a Deep Water Port but Washington wants to take a closer look at shipping traffic going into Nome before signing off.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/corps-of-engineers-advances-arctic-port-study/article_9d4cae0e-754f-11e3-9c93-001a4bcf6878.html

richllewis

#62
This news affects not just traffic on the road to Tanana but these road improvements also affects traffic on the Elliot Hwy. There is a proposal to reroute some of the Dalton Hwy to make the road a little bit safer. Part of the plan includes relocating the intersection of the Elliot Hwy and the Dalton Hwy further south of its present location. This article that tells you all about this is at:

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/dot-plans-to-re-route-portion-of-dalton-highway/article_f4c17cb8-6952-11e3-b0c4-0019bb30f31a.html

This map gives all the information about this project

http://dot.alaska.gov/nreg/dalton/files/overview-figure.pdf

oscar

A few notes on the proposed Dalton Highway realignment:

-- The start of the Dalton Hwy would be about a mile south and west of the current intersection with the Elliott Hwy (AK 2).  It looks like the Elliott would be otherwise unaffected, though it wouldn't surprise me if the asphalt pavement on the Elliott is extended to the new Dalton junction.

-- The new alignment would be a gravel road, at least at the outset, since there would be some settling of the roadbed in the first few years (harder to avoid in permafrost country, than in places with more stable subsurfaces). 
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

Grzrd

Quote from: Grzrd on December 04, 2013, 08:06:58 PM
this Nov. 25 article:
Quote
Jeff Ottesen, the state's top highway planner.
The state has no plans to build a road to Nome, and no prospects for being able to fund such a byway, he said ....
Ottesen said there is no active road to Nome project, but he acknowledged that the Tanana project could later become part of such a road. "There are some people who are saying 'You are going to Tanana with the current project, and that's just the first step,'" he said. "I supposed you could argue that on a technical basis but that doesn't mean the next step is imminent."
The Tanana Road will be unpaved, barely above what the state calls a "pioneer road," but it will provide access to Tanana, he said.
The Western Alaska Access Planning Study recommended a staged approach for the project, with a connection to Tanana being the first stage ....

This Feb. 13 article reports that the Tanana Road is nearly ready for construction:

Quote
The road to Tanana northwest of Fairbanks is the furthest along of the four major Roads to Resources projects Gov. Sean Parnell proposed in late 2011.  DOT Northern Region engineer Ryan Anderson said the road that would reach the Yukon River on the opposite bank from the City of Tanana is nearly ready for construction.
"We're all permitted on the Tanana Road,"  Anderson said.
Planned as a one-lane pioneer road with frequent turnouts, the 26-mile road extending from the end of the Tofty Road off of the Elliott Highway would provide direct winter access to the community via an ice bridge and summer access via ferry, Anderson said.
Negotiations with Native corporations about right-of-way access across corporation lands are the last major hurdle for the road and have been "positive"  so far, he said. Tanana residents collected timber from state land cleared for the right-of-way for use as firewood and in the wood-fired boilers that heat several public buildings in the city, Anderson said.

richllewis

The Road to Tanana is going up for bid in April 2014 according to the tentative bid calendar for the Northern region.

QuoteFrom Northern Region bid calendar:

ROAD TO TANANA
Project# / Federal#: 61759 / N/A
Region: Northern
Location: Regionwide
Manager: Richard Stumpf Phone: 907-451-2285
Anticipate Advertising In: April 2014
Description of Work: Upgrade 14.5 miles of existing trails and construct 19 miles of new road to conform to pioneer road standards.
Engineer's Estimate Range: $10,000,000 to $20,000,000


richllewis

I guess we will be seeing this road covered in the 2015-2016 Milepost :)

seicer

What is considered a pioneer road?

Alps

Quote from: Sherman Cahal on March 10, 2014, 09:51:35 AM
What is considered a pioneer road?
An example: http://www.dot.alaska.gov/econstim/pd-huslia-landfill.shtml

Looks like it's basically "this is a cleared and graded way to get somewhere, and that's all you get."

Brandon

Quote from: Alps on March 10, 2014, 06:35:36 PM
Quote from: Sherman Cahal on March 10, 2014, 09:51:35 AM
What is considered a pioneer road?
An example: http://www.dot.alaska.gov/econstim/pd-huslia-landfill.shtml

Looks like it's basically "this is a cleared and graded way to get somewhere, and that's all you get."

It works.  I've been on more than a few roads in the UP like that.  Shoot, H-58 near Pictured Rocks was like that back in the late 1990s.
"If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." - Ramsay Bolton

"Symbolic of his struggle against reality." - Reg

richllewis

In Mississippi, where I live this is the type of road that is a county road that the county forgot to pave or a forest service road for the purpose of logging. It is usually a one lane road that there is a turnoff going to a deer camp or farm that is very remote into the country side or a road that ends up as a forest service logging road or inside a National Forest. At one time in the 60's most of the state roads in Mississippi were dirt roads. If the State of Alaska build phase two or if traffic increases to Tanana due to industrial development around Tanana, they will go back and improve the road. But it is something like barge facilities moving to Tanana from Nenena to get better port facilities or someone building a plant, or sawmill or the like.

Duke87

Quote from: Alps on March 10, 2014, 06:35:36 PM
Quote from: Sherman Cahal on March 10, 2014, 09:51:35 AM
What is considered a pioneer road?
An example: http://www.dot.alaska.gov/econstim/pd-huslia-landfill.shtml

Looks like it's basically "this is a cleared and graded way to get somewhere, and that's all you get."

Well, I'd say that pretty clearly establishes that the road is planned to dead end in Tanana for the foreseaable future. If it were going further, they would build something more robust.
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

richllewis


richllewis

These are pictures taken before construction begins along the right of way of the Tanana Road. You will find these at http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwddes/addenda/41775/PHOTOS.pdf

richllewis

#74
This is from the Alaska Navigator website:

http://www.alaskanavigator.org/projects/road-to-tanana-area-improvements-road-construction

The information on this web page anticipates work to start in June and be completed by September.



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