how serious is this proposal? it was being discussed in the "longest distance without a fuel stop" thread as though it were quite certainly happening.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on January 07, 2013, 10:05:42 AM
how serious is this proposal? it was being discussed in the "longest distance without a fuel stop" thread as though it were quite certainly happening.
There's definite interest in the idea within the state legislature, but last I checked, not to the point of making firm plans. My impression is that it would help move the process if someone found oil, gold, or other resources along the way, to justify the multi-billion expenditure under a "roads to resources" mantra. I don't think the residents of the Nome area are all that anxious for a road connection to the rest of Alaska, so proponents need some other excuse to build the road.
http://www.dowlhkm.com/projects/Western_Alaska_Access/waaps/index.html
and now I know. looks like it's 550 miles as the crow winds its way through the various villages.
Quote from: oscar on January 07, 2013, 10:23:26 AM
Quote from: agentsteel53 on January 07, 2013, 10:05:42 AM
how serious is this proposal? it was being discussed in the "longest distance without a fuel stop" thread as though it were quite certainly happening.
I don't think the residents of the Nome area are all that anxious for a road connection to the rest of Alaska, so proponents need some other excuse to build the road.
And having been stranded by all the ice in the Bering Strait last winter didn't change their minds?
Quote from: Mark68 on January 12, 2013, 11:04:18 PM
And having been stranded by all the ice in the Bering Strait last winter didn't change their minds?
What are you talking about?
http://www.alaska.com/nome/
"There is no ferry service, either to Russia or to any other city in Alaska."
Quote from: NE2 on January 12, 2013, 11:57:47 PM
Quote from: Mark68 on January 12, 2013, 11:04:18 PM
And having been stranded by all the ice in the Bering Strait last winter didn't change their minds?
What are you talking about?
http://www.alaska.com/nome/
"There is no ferry service, either to Russia or to any other city in Alaska."
Weren't they about to run out of fuel (heating oil?) due to the freezing over of the Strait? I remember seeing news reports about needing an icebreaker to clear a path for a ship to get thru to deliver it.
There may be no ferry service, but they still have to get supplied, and not everything can be flown in.
Quote from: Mark68 on January 13, 2013, 08:44:15 PM
Quote from: NE2 on January 12, 2013, 11:57:47 PM
Quote from: Mark68 on January 12, 2013, 11:04:18 PM
And having been stranded by all the ice in the Bering Strait last winter didn't change their minds?
What are you talking about?
http://www.alaska.com/nome/
"There is no ferry service, either to Russia or to any other city in Alaska."
Weren't they about to run out of fuel (heating oil?) due to the freezing over of the Strait? I remember seeing news reports about needing an icebreaker to clear a path for a ship to get thru to deliver it.
There may be no ferry service, but they still have to get supplied, and not everything can be flown in.
Diesel fuel and other bulky supplies are brought in by cargo ship. An icebreaker was needed to allow a Russian ship to bring in the fuel oil last year, just before the local power utility went dry.
Bering Strait freezing over is a normal thing in the winter (I should know, I tracked sea ice for 4 years at my previous duty station). Last winter, the issue is that it froze up before the tanker could get to Nome.
Quote from: The High Plains Traveler on January 15, 2013, 07:31:09 PM
Diesel fuel and other bulky supplies are brought in by cargo ship. An icebreaker was needed to allow a Russian ship to bring in the fuel oil last year, just before the local power utility went dry.
That's where a road might help. During winter, it would be frozen similar to the Dalton Highway and be able to support heavier loads. IIRC, Deadhorse gets its refined oil products via truck during the winter.
A little OT, but it looks like Nome will soon be served by a spur from a Tokyo-to-London "information superhighway" fibre optic cable:
http://alaska-native-news.com/general-news/7558-arctic-fibre-and-quintillion-join-forces-to-bring-high-speed-internet-access-to-northern-alaska-and-bering-sea.html
Quote
Arctic Fibre plans to construct a 9,424 mile subsea fibre optic cable extending from Tokyo, Japan to London, England via the Bering Strait, Beaufort Sea and Canadian Arctic with a planned in-service date of November 2014 .... Quintillion will construct spurs between Arctic Fibre's backbone and the communities of Prudhoe Bay, Barrow, Wainwright, Nome and Kotzebue ...
The Corps of Engineers is conducting a Deep Draft Port Study for the Nome/Port Clarence region (http://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Library/ReportsandStudies/AlaskaRegionalPortsStudy.aspx):
Quote
Recommended in this report is an initial feasibility level study of the Nome/Port Clarence region to support vessel traffic and economic development in the Arctic. All 14 candidate sites noted in the study could benefit from enhanced marine infrastructure. Though Nome/Port Clarence will be the focus of this study going forward, additional sites could be evaluated independently or as funding becomes available.
The comment period for this draft ends Feb. 28, 2013.
With intermodal connections being a key factor, I wonder if such a port would create a stronger argument for completion of an AK-2 extension (and/or rail extension)? ... yes, I am also thinking in the back of my mind of the OT concept of a long-term connection to a Bering Strait tunnel.
edit
This article (http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/article_54d7beb8-7715-11e2-afa6-0019bb30f31a.html) also discusses the study:
Quote
.... Nome scored highly because of infrastructure already in plac e, including an airport with jet service and runways that allow a cross-wind approach, Lukshin said. Teller benefited from its road connection to Nome ....
Teller is only 50 to 55 air miles away from Wales (http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Teller,+AK&daddr=Wales,+AK&hl=en&sll=32.678125,-83.178297&sspn=7.163737,9.832764&oq=wales+ak&t=h&mra=ls&z=9), the presumptive Alaska entry point for a Bering Strait tunnel.
second edit
Quote from: NE2 on January 07, 2013, 12:38:43 PM
http://www.dowlhkm.com/projects/Western_Alaska_Access/waaps/index.html
This map (page 7/67 of pdf) provides both a proposed staging for such a project and a good visual of the relationship of Wales to the Teller-to-Nome highway and the proposed project:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FX8h7iV0.jpg&hash=45be5a612eeed44d1e260b72a415285ad3182fcd)
Also, regarding rails, from what I've been seeing in other forvms, there are plans for a major new rail link (double track) between the oil fields in NE Alberta and Delta Junction, AK, where unit trains of crude oil can be unloaded and the oil transferred into the Alaska Pipeline for transport the rest of the way to the deep-draft tanker port at Valdez, AK for export to Asia. There are no Pacific Ocean ports in Canada that can handle those ships.
(Note, I am unsure of the progress of those plans, nor even if they have been officially proposed to any government agency in either country.)
Also, a new rail line is under construction between the current end of the Alaska Railroad ('ARR') at North Pole, AK and Delta Junction (see http://www.northernrailextension.com/ for more on this interesting project.). It's another piece in the whole transport development puzzle in that part of North America - including potentially to that deep draft port that is under study in Nome, AK and beyond.
Mike
Quote from: Grzrd on February 08, 2013, 11:51:15 PM
Quote from: NE2 on January 07, 2013, 12:38:43 PM
http://www.dowlhkm.com/projects/Western_Alaska_Access/waaps/index.html
This map (page 7/67 of pdf) provides both a proposed staging for such a project and a good visual of the relationship of Wales to the Teller-to-Nome highway and the proposed project:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FX8h7iV0.jpg&hash=45be5a612eeed44d1e260b72a415285ad3182fcd)
This July 20, 2012 article (http://www.newsminer.com/article_74ac9e8f-9b25-5cb7-a351-13d3fdeaa0ea.html) reports that preliminary work has started on the Manley Hot Springs-to-Tanana road, Stage 1 on the above map:
Quote
Work has begun on what could one day become the first leg of a road to Nome.
At the beginning of July, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities employees began clearing brush and conducting surveys for a proposed road from Manley Hot Springs to Tanana Village. The road is part of Gov. Sean Parnell's "Roads to Resources" program, and will run along land owned in part by the state and in part by the Tozitna Native Corporation.
The state has allocated $10 million to fund this initial stage, $6.4 million from Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority and $3.6 million from the general fund. This will pay for an initial trail to be cleared that will allow workers to survey, take core samples and conduct archaeological work in the event the road should impede upon a historical or cultural site.
The DOT coordinates with both the Department of Natural Resources and the Alaska Native corporations in this effort.
The end goal is to complete an environmental document that would be submitted for public review and input ....
Here is the current method for getting your vehicle from Manley Hot Springs to Tanana:
Quote from: Grzrd on March 01, 2013, 10:34:08 PM
Here is the current method for getting your vehicle from Manley Hot Springs to Tanana:
Looks like it sunk :-/
I would not trust that at all...
I think I would trust the raft more than the planks leading to it. Just my luck, one would break or I'd slip off the edge.
Quote from: agentsteel53 on January 07, 2013, 10:05:42 AM
how serious is this proposal? it was being discussed in the "longest distance without a fuel stop" thread as though it were quite certainly happening.
Damn, I would need a few gascans and a full tank of gas (filled to the top) if I was ever going to drive on that extension, unless they decided to add a few gas stations along the route. I certainly do not want a route like the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse.
I would rather take a reasonably reliable operation like White's Ferry (crosses Potomac River between Montgomery County, Maryland and Loudoun County, Va.).
Video:
Quote from: froggie on January 15, 2013, 08:26:26 PM
Bering Strait freezing over is a normal thing in the winter (I should know, I tracked sea ice for 4 years at my previous duty station). Last winter, the issue is that it froze up before the tanker could get to Nome.
Have you ever been on board a vessel making its way through sea ice?
I have (Silja Line ferry from Stockholm, Sweden to Helsingfors, Finland).
It
sucketh.
They have Gas at Manley Hot Springs according to "The Milepost" at a roadhouse in town. And according to other sources they have Gas at Tanana, although presently not very much since the only thing that people in remote Western Alaska use to get around is "Snow machines" in winter time (otherwise called Snowmobiles in the Lower 48) and probably 4-wheelers and boats during the late Spring and summer time. Cars are at a minimum since there is no road in or out but some service vehicles are around for trash, fire, police, and to deliver heating oil in the winter, and to keep the roads in town (although dirt) maintained. To leave Tanana they have passenger air service in and out. The state makes sure the remote villages have an airport and the mail is delivered by air. All this will change when they get the new road built, although if you need gas as things stand now you will have to use the ferry to get across the Yukon River to go to where people fill up in Tanana. Every village along this route has Gas since you can't use a snowmobile or a 4-wheeler or an outboard motor without it.
Quote from: richllewis on April 05, 2013, 01:56:34 AM
They have Gas at Manley Hot Springs according to "The Milepost" at a roadhouse in town.
Yes. Currently limited hours, though -- when I went there last summer, I had to scramble to refuel before the store with the gas pumps, which is run by the roadhouse but in a separate facility several blocks away, closed at 5pm on a weekday (pay-at-the-pump wasn't an option). One hopes that would improve as through traffic increases.
I suspect that ATVs are currently the dominant mode of transport in Tanana (as it is in other isolated villages in western Alaska), both to economize on expensive fuel and also for travel off the limited local road network. The gas facilities there will probably also need a substantial upgrade as the highway is extended there.
QuoteAlso, a new rail line is under construction between the current end of the Alaska Railroad ('ARR') at North Pole, AK and Delta Junction (see http://www.northernrailextension.com/ for more on this interesting project.). It's another piece in the whole transport development puzzle in that part of North America - including potentially to that deep draft port that is under study in Nome, AK and beyond.
I do not know how much more pressure is on the Alaska Railroad to accelerate the schedule to lay track to Delta Junction. Obama approved some more missiles for Fort Greeley. Rather than have them trucked in, they can be transported by rail if the construction is completed by the time the missiles are delivered.
I frankly have to agree about the wooden raft. I would hate it if my car turned upside down on that small river or even sank. Not only that, but there would also be a good chance of death out in a remote area like northern Alaska. At least an extension of AK-2 would end that nonsense.
On a related note, this topic inspired me to re-think my US 97 fictional highway proposal by making this proposed extension of AK-2 into a proposed extension of a proposed extension for US 97 in Alaska. I wrote the entire idea down here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:White_Star_Line_Fan/sandbox/highway_proposals#U.S._Route_97_in_Alaska (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:White_Star_Line_Fan/sandbox/highway_proposals#U.S._Route_97_in_Alaska)
Quote from: 707 on April 13, 2013, 11:32:37 PM
On a related note, this topic inspired me to re-think my US 97 fictional highway proposal by making this proposed extension of AK-2 into a proposed extension of a proposed extension for US 97 in Alaska. I wrote the entire idea down here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:White_Star_Line_Fan/sandbox/highway_proposals#U.S._Route_97_in_Alaska (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:White_Star_Line_Fan/sandbox/highway_proposals#U.S._Route_97_in_Alaska)
'Taint there.
How does your proposal compare to the actual 1964 proposal, and at least one map apparently "jumping the gun" on that proposal, for US 97 in Alaska?
One of those maps included in US 97 the Nome-Council Highway running east of Nome. I'm really skeptical whether that was ever officially US 97. For one thing, much of the road is not only unpaved, but also rough, narrow, and not much wider than one-lane. If there were any minimum road quality standard for US highways, that road would've almost certainly flunked it, even if it were not as rough in the 1950s as when I traveled it in 2001.
See also http://www.us-highways.com/ak-us.htm#US%2097a (includes some of my research).
I'd add that the current proposals to build a road from existing AK 2 to Nome would leave out part of the Nome-Council Highway, at Council's request to have any new highway steer far clear of the town.
My proposal compares to the 1964 proposal in the fact that US 97 is designated along the Alaska Highway and AK-2 as far west as Fairbanks (which was shown on that map fragment in the website that you linked to). Also, I have no idea what you mean by some map "jumping the gun". The ways in which it differs include making the Dalton US 97 Alternate and improving both the Dalton and AK-2 where it is needed.
Quote from: 707 on April 14, 2013, 02:23:27 AM
My proposal compares to the 1964 proposal in the fact that US 97 is designated along the Alaska Highway and AK-2 as far west as Fairbanks (which was shown on that map fragment in the website that you linked to). Also, I have no idea what you mean by some map "jumping the gun".
The map fragment you mention, from a 1957 AAA road map, is the one I said "jump[ed] the gun".
I suggest we move any further discussion of your US 97 proposal to Fictional Highways.
I don't see why US 97 would ever have been proposed from Council to Nome. Once it hits Fairbanks, the road is generally west from there to Nome, and Council to Nome in particular heads southwest. Obviously, since there's only one road, Alaska could change the directions any way it wanted and have 97 run east/west from Fairbanks. If Alaska wanted to be part of the system, they could propose a US 0?
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-MF1GMX5YgYw%2FTca8E0NjlHI%2FAAAAAAAAAQI%2FHKBQwsmI2XQ%2Fs1600%2FAlaska108%252B208.jpg&hash=dbdc18b25845173ecc1bd932fbf530588e76d4c5)
:bigass:
Seriously, it seems there are something like 5000 people in Nome, and less than 10000 in the entire region. A search of social statistics shows that the vast majority are not engaged in productive work. It would cost far less to simply relocate these people than to build 500 miles of road.
Quote from: SP Cook on April 14, 2013, 09:01:28 AM
Seriously, it seems there are something like 5000 people in Nome, and less than 10000 in the entire region. A search of social statistics shows that the vast majority are not engaged in productive work. It would cost far less to simply relocate these people than to build 500 miles of road.
I disagree.
There are apparently a lot of natural resources that could be much more easily extracted in areas north of the Yukon River if the Nome Highway were to be built.
Might even provide employment for some of those 5,000 people.
Quote from: cpzilliacus on April 21, 2013, 04:01:33 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on April 14, 2013, 09:01:28 AM
Seriously, it seems there are something like 5000 people in Nome, and less than 10000 in the entire region. A search of social statistics shows that the vast majority are not engaged in productive work. It would cost far less to simply relocate these people than to build 500 miles of road.
I disagree.
There are apparently a lot of natural resources that could be much more easily extracted in areas north of the Yukon River if the Nome Highway were to be built.
Might even provide employment for some of those 5,000 people.
Also, does the definition of "productive work" include the subsistence lifestyles of native peoples living off their lands (such as by hunting and fishing)? Lots of them up there, many (at least around Nome -- maybe not in areas even more isolated than the Nome region) not particularly excited about the proposed new road, so it's not really being done as a favor to them.
Quote from: oscar on April 21, 2013, 05:43:44 PM
Also, does the definition of "productive work" include the subsistence lifestyles of native peoples living off their lands (such as by hunting and fishing)? Lots of them up there, many (at least around Nome -- maybe not in areas even more isolated than the Nome region) not particularly excited about the proposed new road, so it's not really being done as a favor to them.
That is a fair question that I cannot answer.
Though with a completed Nome Highway, I
assert that
some of the native people (though perhaps not all) would have a better life because they would be able to sell some of their products to a larger market.
On the flipside, I know that many native villages in Alaska have declared themselves to be legally "dry," and with a through highway between Nome and Fairbanks, it would likely be very difficult or impossible for them to keep alcohol and other drugs out (and even now, it's not easy to maintain a dry community, at least if many segments of Alaska State Troopers (http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/alaska-state-troopers/) (airs on the National Geographic Chanel) are correct).
There is an article in the Fairbanks News-Miner detailing work in the Northern District of the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities that is in the neighborhood of 200 Million Dollars at http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/northern-alaska-transportation-construction-projects-top-million/article_be177b54-bba1-11e2-aabe-001a4bcf6878.html .On the list is the road from Manley Hot Springs to Tanana or leg 1 of the road to Nome. They seem to have a lot of work to be done in that part of Alaska. It will be very interesting what comes out.
Quote from: cpzilliacus on April 22, 2013, 05:18:47 PM
Quote from: oscar on April 21, 2013, 05:43:44 PM
Also, does the definition of "productive work" include the subsistence lifestyles of native peoples living off their lands (such as by hunting and fishing)? Lots of them up there, many (at least around Nome -- maybe not in areas even more isolated than the Nome region) not particularly excited about the proposed new road, so it's not really being done as a favor to them.
That is a fair question that I cannot answer.
Though with a completed Nome Highway, I assert that some of the native people (though perhaps not all) would have a better life because they would be able to sell some of their products to a larger market.
But, still, you're imposing your view of what a "better" life would be onto a population who may not agree with your view. Being able to sell products to a larger market doesn't necessarily equal a "better" life, depending on who you're talking to. The Amish, for example, are not all of one mind when it comes to selling their products to us English: many feel that it weakens their cultural autonomy and would therefore not call it a path to a "better" life.
Quote from: kphoger on May 14, 2013, 08:55:01 AM
Quote from: cpzilliacus on April 22, 2013, 05:18:47 PM
Quote from: oscar on April 21, 2013, 05:43:44 PM
Also, does the definition of "productive work" include the subsistence lifestyles of native peoples living off their lands (such as by hunting and fishing)? Lots of them up there, many (at least around Nome -- maybe not in areas even more isolated than the Nome region) not particularly excited about the proposed new road, so it's not really being done as a favor to them.
That is a fair question that I cannot answer.
Though with a completed Nome Highway, I assert that some of the native people (though perhaps not all) would have a better life because they would be able to sell some of their products to a larger market.
But, still, you're imposing your view of what a "better" life would be onto a population who may not agree with your view. Being able to sell products to a larger market doesn't necessarily equal a "better" life, depending on who you're talking to. The Amish, for example, are not all of one mind when it comes to selling their products to us English: many feel that it weakens their cultural autonomy and would therefore not call it a path to a "better" life.
Many of America's "First Nations" (as the Canadians denote them) have not benefited from the imposition of the American lifestyle on them, to the detriment of their native culture. It is hard, I admit, to envision the aboriginal Americans living in their historic lifestyles with the modern American lifestyle going on around them. It's also sad to see the impact of this cultural conflict on these communities, as I observed living in New Mexico in the 1970s and watching the "Alaska State Troopers" episodes set in native communities. I guess I find applying a "productive work" test to be a little condescending, since keeping one's family and community thriving in that physical environment requires pretty productive work in terms of subsistence living, hunting and fishing. Please don't take this as a personal criticism, but I would guess many of these folks would not find it easy to incorporate the changes to their lives brought on by an influx of tourists or business developers.
Good point
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 (http://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Library/ReportsandStudies/AlaskaRegionalPortsStudy.aspx)
Quote from: mgk920 on February 21, 2013, 11:40:33 AM
Also, a new rail line is under construction between the current end of the Alaska Railroad ('ARR') at North Pole, AK and Delta Junction (see http://www.northernrailextension.com/ for more on this interesting project.). It's another piece in the whole transport development puzzle in that part of North America - including potentially to that deep draft port that is under study in Nome, AK and beyond.
Mike
This opinion piece (http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130514/us-arctics-comforting-obscurity-about-end) contains one person's vision of how the Nome/Port Clarence port, AK-2, and rail might look by 2030.
The port:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fdqoa6L8.jpg&hash=6ebfe68b1007c081aa13530a782c8a62cbbf2868)
AK-2 and rail:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FrCASjvf.jpg&hash=b2184b1f468584d042f7fbbfb11e5251a074e5ec)
Quite the vision!
Quote from: The High Plains Traveler on May 14, 2013, 10:12:28 PM
Many of America's "First Nations" (as the Canadians denote them) have not benefited from the imposition of the American lifestyle on them, to the detriment of their native culture ... I would guess many of these folks would not find it easy to incorporate the changes to their lives brought on by an influx of tourists or business developers.
On the human side:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F3Xxu1TC.jpg&hash=09e6c0a7046f249b55369d85525ddb4ce766a1e9)
If the Arctic ice continues to melt away, then the First Nations may face a huge influx of outsiders.
Quote from: Grzrd on May 16, 2013, 07:31:05 PM
This opinion piece (http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130514/us-arctics-comforting-obscurity-about-end) contains one person's vision of how the Nome/Port Clarence port, AK-2, and rail might look by 2030.
The port:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fdqoa6L8.jpg&hash=6ebfe68b1007c081aa13530a782c8a62cbbf2868)
"Waterfront resort"!? Iced in much of the year, with ocean temps that seem right around freezing the rest of the year?
When I visited Nome in July 2001, I made a furtive attempt to take a dip in the ocean. I couldn't get in past my ankles. Much colder than it was at the Arctic beaches of Prudhoe Bay, where I comfortably waded in the ocean in July 1994 and July 2012.
The views from the Nome waterfront are exceedingly boring, as well.
Quote from: oscar on May 16, 2013, 08:23:55 PM
When I visited Nome in July 2001, I made a furtive attempt to take a dip in the ocean. I couldn't get in past my ankles.
I suppose you will have a true appreciation of the difficulty in an attempt to swim the Bering Strait this summer (http://www.castanet.net/news/West-Kelowna/91532/Let-s-go-for-a-swim-in-the-Bering-sea).
The Bering Strait Relay Team website (http://beringstraitswim.net/).
The study that brought about the proposed road to Nome have new contacts as of 03/18/2013. Nothing else has changed on the Western Alaska Access Study. No further information was given out.
There are a lot of irons in the fire concerning proposed roads and other plans that could be done plus all the maintenance chores that need to be done.
[
Missed this before, sorry for the long delay in posting a reply.]
Quote from: kphoger on May 14, 2013, 08:55:01 AM
But, still, you're imposing your view of what a "better" life would be onto a population who may not agree with your view.
I concede your point. You are absolutely correct.
Quote from: kphoger on May 14, 2013, 08:55:01 AM
Being able to sell products to a larger market doesn't necessarily equal a "better" life, depending on who you're talking to. The Amish, for example, are not all of one mind when it comes to selling their products to us English: many feel that it weakens their cultural autonomy and would therefore not call it a path to a "better" life.
Though a fairly large percentage of the Amish people in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania as well as Amish populations in (nearby) Cecil County, Maryland and St. Mary's County, Maryland (on the other side of the state) do a lot of business with "English" people.
Quote from: Grzrd on March 01, 2013, 10:34:08 PM
This July 20, 2012 article (http://www.newsminer.com/article_74ac9e8f-9b25-5cb7-a351-13d3fdeaa0ea.html) reports that preliminary work has started on the Manley Hot Springs-to-Tanana road
An ADL 419886, DOT Public Right-of-Way for Road to Tanana (Tofty to Tanana), Courtesy Public Notice (http://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/View.aspx?id=168193) has been posted. It includes a link to a map of the proposed 33.43 mile project, including how the currently existing Tofty road will be incorporated into it:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FXu672JW.png&hash=d1986cbfe50cb465a9edbf3aa1ba8ba56522eca7)
Quote from: SP Cook on April 14, 2013, 09:01:28 AM
Seriously, it seems there are something like 5000 people in Nome, and less than 10000 in the entire region. A search of social statistics shows that the vast majority are not engaged in productive work. It would cost far less to simply relocate these people than to build 500 miles of road.
That is a pretty commie thought right there.
Quote from: Avalanchez71 on July 11, 2013, 01:40:08 PM
Quote from: SP Cook on April 14, 2013, 09:01:28 AM
Seriously, it seems there are something like 5000 people in Nome, and less than 10000 in the entire region. A search of social statistics shows that the vast majority are not engaged in productive work. It would cost far less to simply relocate these people than to build 500 miles of road.
That is a pretty commie thought right there.
We don't have to relocate the town, but we don't have to build 500 miles of road for them either. They know it's isolated, if they don't like isolation they don't have to live there.
But... if they don't build the road, then they can't relocate :pan:
As noted upthread:
1) there's no indication that people in the Nome area want or need to relocate, especially the native peoples living on (and off) their ancestral lands,
2) or that they desperately more access to the rest of the world than they already have (which includes daily cargo/passenger jet flights between Nome and Anchorage, as well as barges in the summer for time-insensitive cargo).
Also, a belated comment on the topic line: has it been decided that the road to Tanana and ultimately Nome will be numbered as an extension of AK 2 (could get a new route number like AK 12 instead, keeping the AK 2 designation for the stub of the Elliott Highway to Manley Hot Springs bypassed by the new road), or even that it will have a route number (many long and important roads in Alaska are unnumbered)? Considering that Alaskans give a very low priority to route numbering, it would not surprise me if the route number (if any) for the new road will be among the last things to be decided before the road is opened.
Quote from: oscar on July 11, 2013, 07:08:46 PM
Also, a belated comment on the topic line: has it been decided that the road to Tanana and ultimately Nome will be numbered as an extension of AK 2 (could get a new route number like AK 12 instead, keeping the AK 2 designation for the stub of the Elliott Highway to Manley Hot Springs bypassed by the new road), or even that it will have a route number (many long and important roads in Alaska are unnumbered)? Considering that Alaskans give a very low priority to route numbering, it would not surprise me if the route number (if any) for the new road will be among the last things to be decided before the road is opened.
AK has plenty of state-maintained roads with no route number, but I would be surprised if this didn't get one due to the publicity around it. 2 seems the most logical choice, but they could go the AK 98 direction and choose something symbolic. The first race to Nome was 1973... so AK 73 should be a distinct possibility.
Quote from: Steve on July 11, 2013, 11:59:17 PM
Quote from: oscar on July 11, 2013, 07:08:46 PM
Also, a belated comment on the topic line: has it been decided that the road to Tanana and ultimately Nome will be numbered as an extension of AK 2 (could get a new route number like AK 12 instead, keeping the AK 2 designation for the stub of the Elliott Highway to Manley Hot Springs bypassed by the new road), or even that it will have a route number (many long and important roads in Alaska are unnumbered)? Considering that Alaskans give a very low priority to route numbering, it would not surprise me if the route number (if any) for the new road will be among the last things to be decided before the road is opened.
AK has plenty of state-maintained roads with no route number, but I would be surprised if this didn't get one due to the publicity around it. 2 seems the most logical choice, but they could go the AK 98 direction and choose something symbolic. The first race to Nome was 1973... so AK 73 should be a distinct possibility.
AK-25. 1925 was the year of the diphtheria serum run from Anchorage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925_serum_run_to_Nome). This is what the 1973 and later races were based on. Interestingly enough, the route of the new road will follow the route of the serum run fairly well. I think "Togo-Balto Highway" would be a good name for the road to Nome.
Quote from: Brandon on July 12, 2013, 11:32:43 AM
Quote from: Steve on July 11, 2013, 11:59:17 PM
Quote from: oscar on July 11, 2013, 07:08:46 PM
Also, a belated comment on the topic line: has it been decided that the road to Tanana and ultimately Nome will be numbered as an extension of AK 2 (could get a new route number like AK 12 instead, keeping the AK 2 designation for the stub of the Elliott Highway to Manley Hot Springs bypassed by the new road), or even that it will have a route number (many long and important roads in Alaska are unnumbered)? Considering that Alaskans give a very low priority to route numbering, it would not surprise me if the route number (if any) for the new road will be among the last things to be decided before the road is opened.
AK has plenty of state-maintained roads with no route number, but I would be surprised if this didn't get one due to the publicity around it. 2 seems the most logical choice, but they could go the AK 98 direction and choose something symbolic. The first race to Nome was 1973... so AK 73 should be a distinct possibility.
AK-25. 1925 was the year of the diphtheria serum run from Anchorage (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1925_serum_run_to_Nome). This is what the 1973 and later races were based on. Interestingly enough, the route of the new road will follow the route of the serum run fairly well. I think "Togo-Balto Highway" would be a good name for the road to Nome.
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.
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?
Trans-Bering Highway :P
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
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/
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.
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
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.
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 (http://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Library/ReportsandStudies/AlaskaRegionalPortsStudy.aspx)
This article (http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Shipping-Firm-Explores-Alaska-Port-Possibility-2013-11-13/) 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).
Quote from: Grzrd on November 14, 2013, 10:52:00 AM
This article (http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Shipping-Firm-Explores-Alaska-Port-Possibility-2013-11-13/) reports on ... "planners examining the rail and road links from Nome/Port Clarence to Fairbanks"
On the other hand, this Nov. 25 article (http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20131125/alaskas-road-nome-appears-dead-advocates-not-giving) 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 ....
Quote from: Grzrd on December 04, 2013, 08:06:58 PM
On the other hand, this Nov. 25 article (http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20131125/alaskas-road-nome-appears-dead-advocates-not-giving) 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.
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
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
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).
Quote from: Grzrd on December 04, 2013, 08:06:58 PM
this Nov. 25 article (http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20131125/alaskas-road-nome-appears-dead-advocates-not-giving):
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 (http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/February-Issue-3-2014/Roads-to-Resources-adds-West-Susitna-stalls-other-projects/) 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.
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
I guess we will be seeing this road covered in the 2015-2016 Milepost :)
What is considered a pioneer road?
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."
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.
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.
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.
DOTPF has started to advertise the road to Tanana. It is at http://www.dot.state.ak.us/apps/contracts?ACTION=BIDCAL®ION_CODE=ALL
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
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.
QuoteThe Alaska Department of Transportation is working to construct a new road beginning at MP 16 on Tofty Road and ending on the south banks of the Yukon River, seven miles from the city of Tanana.
Soo... the road isn't even going to Tanana. It's just going to the dead end at the river 7 miles east. So, this accomplishes what, then? Is there not already a winter ice road connection to Tanana?
This also means it looks like the road is going to fall short of making it further west than Anchor Point.
Quote from: Duke87 on May 03, 2014, 08:10:08 PM
QuoteThe Alaska Department of Transportation is working to construct a new road beginning at MP 16 on Tofty Road and ending on the south banks of the Yukon River, seven miles from the city of Tanana.
Soo... the road isn't even going to Tanana. It's just going to the dead end at the river 7 miles east. So, this accomplishes what, then? Is there not already a winter ice road connection to Tanana?
Tanana has local roads east of town to the north bank of the Yukon, so a road to the south bank of the river sets the stage for the planned short ferry crossing of the river. As noted upthread, an ice bridge might be possible in the winter, though I suspect that a "pioneer road" out of Manley Hot Springs will be one of those roads that gets no maintenance during the winter and is simply shut down for several months each year, like most of AK 8, the Cordova segment of AK 10 east of the airport, and all of AK 5 (isolating the villages of Eagle and Chicken).
I'm not aware of any ice road down the Yukon from the Dalton Highway, or down the Tanana from Manley Hot Springs. Ice roads, especially long ones as would be needed to connect Tanana to the existing road network, require a lot of work to make sure the ice is safe for vehicle traffic. Unlike its counterparts in the Northwest Territories and Manitoba, Alaska DOT&PF doesn't normally do overwater ice roads. There are some short ice bridges on winter roads to villages branching off the Dalton Highway, and a longer ice road over the ocean out of Prudhoe Bay to haul cargo out to oil production facilities, but those might be locally- or privately-maintained.
Quote from: oscar on May 05, 2014, 09:26:52 AM
Tanana has local roads east of town to the north bank of the Yukon, so a road to the south bank of the river sets the stage for the planned short ferry crossing of the river.
Okay, but 7 miles east? I don't see any on the map or any evidence of them on satellite view. Looks like a couple streets east out of town end near the river, but only by about 2 miles. I'm not following how the description quite adds up.
QuoteI'm not aware of any ice road down the Yukon from the Dalton Highway, or down the Tanana from Manley Hot Springs. Ice roads, especially long ones as would be needed to connect Tanana to the existing road network, require a lot of work to make sure the ice is safe for vehicle traffic. Unlike its counterparts in the Northwest Territories and Manitoba, Alaska DOT&PF doesn't normally do overwater ice roads.
Huh. This kind of surprises me but I guess it shouldn't. I have this idea of ice roads as being really cheap alternatives for when all-weather roads aren't worth the money to build, so surely any town on a body of arctic water must be served by one. But I suppose that even if they cost practically nothing to "construct", they require just as much if not more in maintenance than a paved road would, and it isn't nearly as simple as saying "hey, the river froze over, go drive on the ice for 40 miles if you want to go to Tanana". (also, shit, it's
40 miles!? Goddamn it Alaska...)
Quote from: Duke87 on May 05, 2014, 11:39:45 PM
Quote from: oscar on May 05, 2014, 09:26:52 AM
Tanana has local roads east of town to the north bank of the Yukon, so a road to the south bank of the river sets the stage for the planned short ferry crossing of the river.
Okay, but 7 miles east? I don't see any on the map or any evidence of them on satellite view. Looks like a couple streets east out of town end near the river, but only by about 2 miles. I'm not following how the description quite adds up.
QuoteI'm not aware of any ice road down the Yukon from the Dalton Highway, or down the Tanana from Manley Hot Springs. Ice roads, especially long ones as would be needed to connect Tanana to the existing road network, require a lot of work to make sure the ice is safe for vehicle traffic. Unlike its counterparts in the Northwest Territories and Manitoba, Alaska DOT&PF doesn't normally do overwater ice roads.
Huh. This kind of surprises me but I guess it shouldn't. I have this idea of ice roads as being really cheap alternatives for when all-weather roads aren't worth the money to build, so surely any town on a body of arctic water must be served by one. But I suppose that even if they cost practically nothing to "construct", they require just as much if not more in maintenance than a paved road would, and it isn't nearly as simple as saying "hey, the river froze over, go drive on the ice for 40 miles if you want to go to Tanana". (also, shit, it's 40 miles!? Goddamn it Alaska...)
I had the pleasure of chatting with a retired Dept. of Highways worker from Edmonton who had a role in administering some of the ice roads in the Northwest Territories. They were a lot of work to make and continually test for safety, a very specialized field.
GNWT Transportation's field guide to ice road construction (http://www.dot.gov.nt.ca/_live/documents/content/Ice%20Construction%20Field%20Guide%20web.pdf) illustrates the work involved in maintaining and safely operating an overwater ice road.
any road like this you know the last stretch will be the most interesting
This article was on KNOM web site. It is located in Nome, AK. This article is about the work that will be going on in the bush this year. It is at:
http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2014/05/05/department-of-transportation-ramping-up-rural-projects/
Quote
Department of Transportation Ramping Up Rural Projects
By Zachariah Hughes, May 5, 2014
Photo by Chris Plutt, courtesy of Alaska DOT
Photo by Chris Plutt, courtesy of Alaska DOT
Federal money for rural infrastructure is drying up, and state agencies are overhauling projects while they still can. With Alaska's brief construction season about to begin, state officials are hurrying to bring airfields, roads, and other Bush infrastructure up to standard before funds get scarce.
The Alaska Department of Transportation is preparing for a busy summer in rural parts of the state.
"This is a 240 million dollar construction season for us," said said DoT spokesperson Meadow Bailey. "We're in over 20 communities across our region and then we have over 60 projects in those communities, so it's a really busy construction season for us."
Bailey is part of the DoT office in charge of most Bush projects. She's making the rounds ahead of the construction season to get acquainted with project sites and meet local officials.
In Nome, the DoT is starting a $26.6 million runway extension at the airport in mid-May. More road and airport work is planned for Barrow, Kotzebue, Shishmaref, Emmonak, and elsewhere, along with an extensive new road project in the Interior.
"We're building about 18 miles of new road close to the community of Tanana, and the goal there is to be able to open up a mining coordior that has existing mines on it now but to give more access for those miners." Bailey went on to explain another aim of the project, "To give the residents of Tanana–or to enable to residents of Tanana, to have a lower cost of living."
DoT is aggressively pursuing rural programs this summer in part because plans for larger projects fell apart during the legislative session. The state also expects federal money for infrastructure is going to decrease in the next few years.
"We're actually talking about kind of a restructuring of the DoT system. So that'll be a real shift that we'll see coming up in the next few years," Bailey said of the department front-loading it's Bush projects. "We have dollars right now, and we have projects in rural communities; last year, this year, next year–we're going to try and build and improve as much as we can because we know there's going to be a shift in Federal funding."
More than 90% of Alaska's money for airports, roads, and the Southeast Ferry System comes from Federal money. And not only are the funds diminishing, but nation-wide spending priorities are shifting toward cities.
"The focus is going to be more on urban areas," Bailey said. "T there's a lot of focus on more transit programs like bussing, cycling paths, that kind of stuff, and mass transit. And so in Alaska that's going to really change the focus from the rural communities to more urban communities. And that's the way federal programs are going to be funded."
With a looming sea- change in funding priorities, Alaska DoT is proactively trying to bring remote roadways and airstrips up to date. That's not an easy task in areas where a single-lane gravel road can cost up to a million dollars a mile.
The road will probably be extended as funding is available.
Quote from: Grzrd on November 14, 2013, 10:52:00 AM
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 (http://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Library/ReportsandStudies/AlaskaRegionalPortsStudy.aspx)
This article (http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Shipping-Firm-Explores-Alaska-Port-Possibility-2013-11-13/) 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"
This June 11 article (http://www.adn.com/2014/06/11/3512792/study-port-clarence-development.html) reports on a recent study which found that the Port Clarence port would not be economically feasible in the absence of off-shore drilling:
Quote
Development of a deepwater port along the Bering Strait is economically feasible in the coming decade only if oil development proceeds in Alaska's Arctic waters, an area where once-promising drilling campaigns have stumbled in recent years, a new study concludes.
The study, by Anchorage-based Northern Economics, evaluates the economic viability of a major buildup at Port Clarence, a bay and narrow peninsula about 80 miles northwest of Nome. The study, released Friday, was commissioned for the Bering Straits Native Corp., the regional Native organization with pending claims to selected lands at Port Clarence.
Today's ADOT&PF press release, on the kickoff for the Tanana access road project:
Quote
ADOT&PF, Tanana to hold kickoff event for Tanana Road Extension
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF), in coordination with the community of Tanana, will hold a kickoff celebration Monday, July 21, in Tanana for the Tanana Road Extension.
The project, funded by the State of Alaska, involves constructing 20 miles of new road and upgrading 14 miles of existing road. The new single-lane, gravel road will be a continuation of Tofty Road near Manley, to the south banks of the Yukon River, about six miles from the city of Tanana. Construction will begin this month.
The road extension will bring significant benefits to Tanana in the form of reduced freight and cargo fees and reduced transportation costs for residents and visitors. The road will also increase access to mineral development in the Interior.
A later ADOT&PF press release says the planned completion date for the extension of Tofty Road to the Yukon River is December 2015.
This article (http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/alaska-starts-work-on-road-to-tanana/article_60f1730a-1139-11e4-a6ed-001a4bcf6878.html) includes a photo of tree clearing along the corridor :
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSims5k8.jpg&hash=36ca1db029a95f03b0fa01ffb1a7e760c04ac31a)
Quote
Construction crews starting work on a road between Tanana and Manley Hot Springs this month will be doing something that hasn't been done in Alaska in almost 20 years: connecting a bush community to the Alaska road system ....
The "road to Tanana" as it has been called, does come with an asterisk. The single-lane gravel road that's being built this summer and next will finish on the south bank of the Yukon River. That puts it six miles upstream and a 20-minute boat ride from the city of Tanana, which sits on the Yukon's north bank. The $11 million project involves 14 miles of road improvements on Tofty Road near Manley Hot Springs and 20 miles of new road. The project's completion date is Dec. 15, 2015.
There are no immediate plans for a bridge across the river. The road follows a route that's been identified as a future road across the state to Nome, although there are no immediate plans for an extension beyond Tanana.
ADOT&PF has posted some photos from the Tanana Road Extension Kickoff Celebration:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/akdotpf/sets/72157645419207819/
One photo suggests a new roadgeek "clinch" category (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=11135.0): official road ceremony cakes of which at least one piece was consumed:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FEfYK6Jw.jpg&hash=00f4f6b7ee6de8e0bf01386c45251c19d225348b)
Quote from: Grzrd on July 23, 2014, 03:19:47 PM
ADOT&PF has posted some photos from the Tanana Road Extension Kickoff Celebration:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/akdotpf/sets/72157645419207819/
Yukon Men, the reality show set in Tanana, will air an episode on September 2 that partially explores the divisons in the town about the new road. A clip on the show's Facebook page includes footage of clearing for the road:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=626235300830957&set=vb.441403812647441&type=2&theater
Quote from: Grzrd on September 01, 2014, 08:29:27 AM
Yukon Men, the reality show set in Tanana, will air an episode on September 2 that partially explores the divisons in the town about the new road. A clip on the show's Facebook page includes footage of clearing for the road:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=626235300830957&set=vb.441403812647441&type=2&theater
Here is a clip from the show about the road:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K7oipjPBM0
Quote from: Grzrd on March 01, 2013, 10:34:08 PM
Here is the current method for getting your vehicle from Manley Hot Springs to Tanana:
Here is a clip from
Yukon Men showing a truck being transported by raft down the Yukon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOjJ5qvLkPg
Quote from: Grzrd on May 16, 2013, 07:31:05 PM
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 (http://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Library/ReportsandStudies/AlaskaRegionalPortsStudy.aspx)
This opinion piece (http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130514/us-arctics-comforting-obscurity-about-end) contains one person's vision of how the Nome/Port Clarence port, AK-2, and rail might look by 2030.
The port:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2Fdqoa6L8.jpg&hash=6ebfe68b1007c081aa13530a782c8a62cbbf2868)
AK-2 and rail:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FrCASjvf.jpg&hash=b2184b1f468584d042f7fbbfb11e5251a074e5ec)
Quote from: Grzrd on June 13, 2014, 11:07:18 AM
This June 11 article (http://www.adn.com/2014/06/11/3512792/study-port-clarence-development.html) reports on a recent study which found that the Port Clarence port would not be economically feasible in the absence of off-shore drilling
This article (http://www.adn.com/article/20150214/army-corps-engineers-plans-expand-port-nome) reports that Corps of Engineers is planning to expand the port at Nome, that the expansion is justified by the potential of increased oil and gas extraction from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and that local residents are wary about a potential expansion of the Port Clarence port:
Quote
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is set to unveil its first steps toward expanding deep-water Arctic ports in Alaska, and Corps officials said Friday they plan to start by expanding the existing Port of Nome.
"The report is making the recommendation for construction at Nome at this time basically due to its highly developed area, having a good runway, good hospital, already strong support that's already there," said Bruce Sexauer, the Alaska Army Corps' chief of civil works ....
The Corps eventually hopes to develop a system of deeper ports throughout Western Alaska. That includes the naturally deep-water of Port Clarence near Brevig Mission and Teller but residents of those communities near the western tip of the Seward Peninsula have opposed that plan. They've voiced concern over how a busy port would endanger seals, fish and other subsistence resources.
Sexauer pointed to increased traffic in the Bering Strait and growing resource extraction in the Arctic – including potential oil and gas development in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas – as necessitating the Arctic ports, starting with Nome.
"This port will be able to provide support for those types of activities that are going on out there," he said. "This will provide (resource developers) with a closer area where they can bring in their resupply ships and offload crews closer up in the Arctic." He said expanded port capacity would similarly increase the ability for agencies to respond to emergencies in Arctic waters ....
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be in Nome Tuesday to meet city and port officials. The Corps' full report will be released to the public by the end of next week.
No mention of either a road or high-speed rail from Nome to Fairbanks and Anchorage, though. :D
edit
Here is the Corps' full draft report (http://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Portals/34/docs/civilworks/arcticdeepdraft/ADDMainReportwithoutappendixes.pdf).
Quote from: Brandon on March 10, 2014, 08:49:34 PM
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.
We thought about driving it from Grandma Ray to Munising and got about a mile down the dirt and turned around.
Quote from: texaskdog on February 15, 2015, 06:42:03 PM
Quote from: Brandon on March 10, 2014, 08:49:34 PM
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.
We thought about driving it from Grandma Ray to Munising and got about a mile down the dirt and turned around.
Grandma Ray? I hope you mean Grand Marais.
Quote from: Grzrd on July 23, 2014, 03:19:47 PM
ADOT&PF has posted some photos from the Tanana Road Extension Kickoff Celebration:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/akdotpf/sets/72157645419207819/
This September 11 Alaska Public Radio headline-challenged article/ broadcast recording (http://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/09/11/new-road-from-tanana-to-yukon-river-nears-completion/) reports that this summer's wildfires slowed construction, that the project is approximately 80% complete, and that, aside from the financial challenges, ADOT&PF does not have plans for further extensions until it can evaluate the impact of this extension on Tanana:
Quote
Construction of a new road to the Yukon River near Tanana is almost complete.
DOT Northern Region Spokesperson Meadow Bailey estimates the project is about 80 percent finished, with about 6 miles left to go before the road reaches the south bank of the Yukon across from Tanana.
The project is building 20 miles of new roadway and improving 14 miles of existing road, extending north and west out of Manley Hot Springs.
Bailey says the work schedule was thrown off by this summer's wildfires.
"We lost about three week's worth of work. We actually had to evacuate the project for a while because the fire was burning around the project and jumping back and forth across the road. So we expect the majority of the work to be done this year, but there may be some really minor things to be completed next year."
Once the road reaches the south side of the Yukon, DOT has no further plans or funding for building any more of the long-debated "Road to Nome." The proposed corridor for that road travels along the north side of the Yukon, necessitating a bridge or ferry to get vehicles across the river.
The road to Tanana was paid for under the Roads to Resources program, which began under Governor Frank Murkowski as a means to improve access to rural communities and to areas with potential for oil, gas, and mineral development. No additional funds have been put into the Roads to Resources program recently.
Bailey says that DOT will watch how the road impacts the lifestyle and economy of Tanana before extending the road any further west along the Yukon River corridor.
"We'll see what the experience is for the residents of Tanana and if they feel like this is worthwhile, if it is decreasing their costs. These are things we will look at in the future."
The Tanana City Council, and the tribal councils of Manley, Ruby and Tanana, have all passed resolutions of support for the road in recent years.
Does anyone believe AK-2 will ever reach Nome?
Well, the future lasts a long time. I was amused by the idea in one of the posts about high-speed rail to Nome, which I don't believe will ever happen. I'm finding it difficult to imagine that it would ever be easier to reach Nome by road than by sea. I think we'll have to wait to see how the extension now under construction affects Tanana.
I do think that transshipment between Port Clarence and Iceland will become an important cargo route.
Quote from: The Ghostbuster on October 13, 2015, 04:06:30 PM
Does anyone believe AK-2 will ever reach Nome?
Anyone? Anyone? Fritzowl?
Quote from: Grzrd on October 13, 2015, 02:35:45 PM
This September 11 Alaska Public Radio headline-challenged article/ broadcast recording (http://www.alaskapublic.org/2015/09/11/new-road-from-tanana-to-yukon-river-nears-completion/) reports that this summer's wildfires slowed construction, that the project is approximately 80% complete, and that, aside from the financial challenges, ADOT&PF does not have plans for further extensions until it can evaluate the impact of this extension on Tanana:
Quote
Construction of a new road to the Yukon River near Tanana is almost complete.
DOT Northern Region Spokesperson Meadow Bailey estimates the project is about 80 percent finished, with about 6 miles left to go before the road reaches the south bank of the Yukon across from Tanana.
The project is building 20 miles of new roadway and improving 14 miles of existing road, extending north and west out of Manley Hot Springs.
Bailey says the work schedule was thrown off by this summer's wildfires.
"We lost about three week's worth of work. We actually had to evacuate the project for a while because the fire was burning around the project and jumping back and forth across the road. So we expect the majority of the work to be done this year, but there may be some really minor things to be completed next year."
Once the road reaches the south side of the Yukon, DOT has no further plans or funding for building any more of the long-debated "Road to Nome." The proposed corridor for that road travels along the north side of the Yukon, necessitating a bridge or ferry to get vehicles across the river.
The road to Tanana was paid for under the Roads to Resources program, which began under Governor Frank Murkowski as a means to improve access to rural communities and to areas with potential for oil, gas, and mineral development. No additional funds have been put into the Roads to Resources program recently.
Bailey says that DOT will watch how the road impacts the lifestyle and economy of Tanana before extending the road any further west along the Yukon River corridor.
"We'll see what the experience is for the residents of Tanana and if they feel like this is worthwhile, if it is decreasing their costs. These are things we will look at in the future."
The Tanana City Council, and the tribal councils of Manley, Ruby and Tanana, have all passed resolutions of support for the road in recent years.
Doesn't seem particularly helpful to have a road ending on the south side of the Yukon when Tanana is on the north...
Quote from: mcarling on October 14, 2015, 06:44:05 PM
The stretch of the Yukon adjacent to Tanana is not a great location for a bridge. The nearest decent place for a bridge (cost being an issue) is about 8 to 10 miles downstream (to the West). If the road will be extended beyond Tanana toward Nome, then it would make sense to consider building a bridge. A bridge would be required to reach Nome, because it's north of the Yukon. However, the next community downstream is Ruby, on the south bank of the Yukon, more than 100 miles west of Tanana.
Wouldn't a crossing of the Yukon downstream from Tanana require construction of an additional bridge across the Tanana River? Maybe I'm missing something, but ISTM that a single bridge across the Yukon upstream from Tanana would be less expensive than a bridge across the Tanana River and a bridge across the Yukon downstream from Tanana. The Yukon would also be wider downstream from Tanana, with the additional water flowing into the Yukon from the Tanana, though there might be island-hopping opportunities on the Yukon west of Tanana.
In any case, as discussed upthread, the short-term plan is for a ferry crossing between Tanana village and the Tofty Road extension to the other side of the Yukon, so the village would not be SOL. The only way to connect Tanana and perhaps ultimately Nome to AK 2, without a new ferry or bridge crossing of the Yukon, would be a long road entirely north of the Yukon from the Dalton Highway, which already has a bridge across the Yukon.
Quote from: Grzrd on March 09, 2014, 12:56:43 PM
This Feb. 13 article (http://www.alaskajournal.com/Alaska-Journal-of-Commerce/February-Issue-3-2014/Roads-to-Resources-adds-West-Susitna-stalls-other-projects/):
Quote
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 ....
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.
Quote from: Alps on October 14, 2015, 05:46:21 PM
Doesn't seem particularly helpful to have a road ending on the south side of the Yukon when Tanana is on the north...
Quote from: oscar on October 14, 2015, 07:16:28 PM
... as discussed upthread, the short-term plan is for a ferry crossing between Tanana village and the Tofty Road extension to the other side of the Yukon, so the village would not be SOL. The only way to connect Tanana and perhaps ultimately Nome to AK 2, without a new ferry or bridge crossing of the Yukon, would be a long road entirely north of the Yukon from the Dalton Highway, which already has a bridge across the Yukon.
The December 2011 Western Alaska Access Planning Study Corridor Staging and Alternatives Report (http://dot.alaska.gov/nreg/westernaccess/documents/corridor_staging_alternatives_report.pdf) indicates that the bridge to Tanana would be built either as a stand-alone project or as part of the construction of the Tanana-to-Ruby section on the north bank (p. 23/67 of pdf; p. 13 of document):
Quote
The initial Manley Hot Springs to Tanana segment may not include construction of a bridge over the Yukon River. This major bridge is something that could be completed at a later date as a stand-alone project or within a separate stage. The bridge could be removed from this stage as a means of reducing costs and because alternatives to a bridge, such as a ferry, barge, and/or ice crossings of the Yukon River, could be used in the interim until traffic levels justify a bridge. Examples of where a ferry system has been used in lieu of a bridge can be found in Canada along the Dempster Highway at Fort McPherson and near Dawson City at a crossing of the Yukon River. A logical point to construct the bridge would be during Stage 3 of the corridor when the road is extended from Tanana west toward Ruby.
Here is a snip from a staging map showing the Stage 1/ Stage 3 route from Manley Hot Springs to Tanana to Ruby (p. 20/67 of pdf):
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F03eT4Fl.jpg&hash=3afefd16cda9f6ef765906985f53f05fdb2b2221)
I'm not sure that this is current. It is marked "preliminary".
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FXu672JW.png&hash=d1986cbfe50cb465a9edbf3aa1ba8ba56522eca7)
Quote from: Grzrd on February 15, 2015, 10:04:48 AM
This article (http://www.adn.com/article/20150214/army-corps-engineers-plans-expand-port-nome) reports that Corps of Engineers is planning to expand the port at Nome, that the expansion is justified by the potential of increased oil and gas extraction from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and that local residents are wary about a potential expansion of the Port Clarence port:
Quote
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is set to unveil its first steps toward expanding deep-water Arctic ports in Alaska, and Corps officials said Friday they plan to start by expanding the existing Port of Nome.
“The report is making the recommendation for construction at Nome at this time basically due to its highly developed area, having a good runway, good hospital, already strong support that’s already there,” said Bruce Sexauer, the Alaska Army Corps’ chief of civil works ....
The Corps eventually hopes to develop a system of deeper ports throughout Western Alaska. That includes the naturally deep-water of Port Clarence near Brevig Mission and Teller but residents of those communities near the western tip of the Seward Peninsula have opposed that plan. They’ve voiced concern over how a busy port would endanger seals, fish and other subsistence resources.
Sexauer pointed to increased traffic in the Bering Strait and growing resource extraction in the Arctic — including potential oil and gas development in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas — as necessitating the Arctic ports, starting with Nome.
No mention of either a road or high-speed rail from Nome to Fairbanks and Anchorage, though ....
Here is the Corps' full draft report (http://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Portals/34/docs/civilworks/arcticdeepdraft/ADDMainReportwithoutappendixes.pdf).
This October 26 article (http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/10/26/u-s-army-corps-of-engineers-puts-nomes-port-expansion-on-12-month-hold/) reports that the Corps is putting the Nome port expansion final report on a twelve-month hold because of "the changing economic picture of the Arctic":
Quote
A highly-anticipated study looking into a deep-draft Arctic port for Alaska is being shelved for at least a year by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–due to what the Corps calls the changing economic picture of the Arctic.
Those changes all ripple out from Royal Dutch Shell and the company's decision in September but put its Arctic oil ambitions on indefinite hold.
The Corps of Engineers announced Monday a 12-month pause in the feasibility study for a deep draft Arctic port in Alaska. That study put an expansion of Nome's existing facility as the leading candidate for investment–with a projected price tag around $210 million.
Now, in the wake of what Shell calls "disappointing" results for its oil search in the Chukchi Sea this summer, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant has suspended its Arctic operations "for the foreseeable future." New lease sales (and the extension of existing ones, including Shell's) in the Arctic Ocean were recently canceled due to what federal officials called a lack of interest, further dampening oil and gas prospects for the Arctic.
The Army Corps said Shell's decision shifts the economics of Alaska's Arctic and "brings into question" the core assumptions its Arctic port study was based on ....
Nome Mayor Richard Beneville said oil and gas is "part of the pie" but insisted there's much more to a deep draft Arctic port. He says putting the project on hold isn't the end.
"What is important is that this whole project must be kept in the forefront, if you will, both with the governor and with our Congressional delegation," Beneville said.
"The Corps, that's just one entity. There are other entities involved," he continued. "There are other issues involved. It's not just about petroleum and Shell. It's about traffic through the Bering Strait. It's about the protection of the United States of America. It's about a lot of things other than oil." ....
At the very least, one possible justification for a road connecting Nome to the rest of the Alaskan road network is now questionable.
Well, there's always Russia's proposal to build a superhighway from New York to London...
Quote from: vdeane on October 28, 2015, 12:47:44 PM
Well, there's always Russia's proposal to build a superhighway from New York to London...
Via Alaska and Siberia? That doesn't make any sense to me. Goods can be shipped between New York and London faster and much cheaper by ship. Generally people will not drive so far, choosing instead to fly, which is certainly safer and faster and probably cheaper. A year ago, some parts of Russia's trans-Siberia road were still gravel, so a motorway is just silly.
No, via tunnel! Read Harry Harrison's A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah!
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge will be the tricky part, but I'm sure it'll be cool to rebuild that section of the tunnel every year or so.
Quote from: mcarling on October 28, 2015, 07:52:38 PMGoods can be shipped between New York and London faster and much cheaper by ship.
Stop seeing end points as if the route doesn't have junctions in between.
The main point of it in Asia is to open up Siberia for business.
The main point of it in Europe is to err, I'm not sure. Most of it exists* and even if Russia stops invading countries like Georgia and Ukraine, the xenophobic EU will never trade freely with them.
Also bare in mind that 'superhighway' in Russia is different from 'motorway' or 'freeway'. Think of a partially-grade-separated two-lane road with a wide ROW for the Asian sections (the road formerly known as M-51 is already like this from Omsk to Chita, IIRC). Think 4-lane mostly-controlled-access mostly-grade-separated road for the European bit.
*quite a bit of Warsaw - Belarus, and Moscow - Urals, are subpar, and maybe some of Belarus - Moscow. While 20 miles at either end of the Belarusian section aren't full-on motorway, Russia will see them as adequate.
If AK-2 was extended west to Nome I don't think it would be necessary to build it as a modern state highway. I think a one and a half lane oil and gravel road would be more than sufficient. I hope they eventually build this highway. I think long term it would eventually help Alaska as far as jobs are concerned. They should just skip environmental studies altogether. It's Alaska. Just build the thing.
Quote from: english si on October 29, 2015, 08:12:02 AM
The main point of it in Asia is to open up Siberia for business.
The main point of it in Europe is to err, I'm not sure. Most of it exists* and even if Russia stops invading countries like Georgia and Ukraine, the xenophobic EU will never trade freely with them.
I think the main point is to improve the connections between Siberia and european Russia, before the Chinese decide they want Siberia back. The Russian leadership understands that the EU and US are not interested in grandiose super-highways (of any type) to nowhere.
Quote from: english si on October 29, 2015, 08:12:02 AMquite a bit of Warsaw - Belarus, and Moscow - Urals, are subpar, and maybe some of Belarus - Moscow. While 20 miles at either end of the Belarusian section aren't full-on motorway, Russia will see them as adequate.
Just in Poland, for example, the section of DK2 from Kalyszyn (pronounced Kalushin) to the Belurus border at Terespol is a crappy two-lane undivided road with traffic lights. The new government, elected a few days ago, is likely to raise the priority of building the A2 motorway from Kalyszyn to Siedice, but probably not further east than Siedice.
Quote from: mcarling on October 28, 2015, 07:52:38 PM
Goods can be shipped between New York and London faster and much cheaper by ship.
Who ships goods between those points? If a rail line is built, then end point would most likely be Chicago as that has been, is, and will be for the foreseeable future, the major rail hub of North America. From there, they'd be dispersed to periphery end points like New York or Omaha.
Quote from: Brandon on October 29, 2015, 12:13:57 PM
Quote from: mcarling on October 28, 2015, 07:52:38 PM
Goods can be shipped between New York and London faster and much cheaper by ship.
Who ships goods between those points? If a rail line is built, then end point would most likely be Chicago as that has been, is, and will be for the foreseeable future, the major rail hub of North America. From there, they'd be dispersed to periphery end points like New York or Omaha.
I'm pretty sure there's a railroad or two that serves the port of NY-NJ.
Quote from: Brandon on October 29, 2015, 12:13:57 PM
Quote from: mcarling on October 28, 2015, 07:52:38 PM
Goods can be shipped between New York and London faster and much cheaper by ship.
Who ships goods between those points?
Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping operate large container ships between Britain and NY/NJ, for example. The ships are limited in size by the ports of NY/NJ and there are multiple journeys per week. Anyway, I think we're off topic. I don't ever expect to see the Bering Straits spanned by either a bridge or a tunnel. Both sides are incredibly remote.
Quote from: Grzrd on July 22, 2014, 04:58:42 PM
This article (http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/alaska-starts-work-on-road-to-tanana/article_60f1730a-1139-11e4-a6ed-001a4bcf6878.html) includes a photo of tree clearing along the corridor :
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSims5k8.jpg&hash=36ca1db029a95f03b0fa01ffb1a7e760c04ac31a)
Quote
... The project's completion date is Dec. 15, 2015 ...
This December 6 article (http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/weather-delays-completion-of-road-to-tanana-until-summer/article_80e7b6f8-9bf6-11e5-9f3c-c3fe20cf5ee2.html), which includes two photos of construction, reports that the project has suffered delays and that the new projected completion date is "early in summer 2016":
Quote
The new road toward the village of Tanana was supposed to be done by Dec. 15, 2015, but it won't meet that deadline because weather got in the way.
First, heavy rainfall in 2014 made for a soggy start to the project. In 2015, a wildfire blew through the construction site, forcing an evacuation.
The construction crew won't finish this year, but they are three miles from the planned terminus on the south bank of the Yukon River, according to Alaska Department of Transportation spokeswoman Meadow Bailey. They also need to make improvements to a bridge over Boulder Creek.
The plan is now to finish the project early in summer 2016.
"It's fairly minor things left to be done. We just ran out of time," she said.
The delays have made the project more expensive. It's now expected to cost $13.5 million, up from the $11 million estimate when construction began, Bailey said.
The new single lane gravel road is the first in about 20 years to connect a bush community to the state's highway network. But it's a tenuous connection. There are no plans to build a bridge between the village on the north bank of the Yukon and the end of the road, which will be about 6 miles upstream on the south bank. Nonetheless, the new road promises to make life cheaper for the 250 residents of Tanana. A 2014 legislative request document for the project estimated the new road will save Tanana $600,000 per year by moving more freight from pricey air freight to less-expensive road and river shipping ....
Here is a snip of an August 2015 construction photo that accompanies the article:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F5SzETfj.jpg&hash=417987a3ff85c4b52e23cfabc72fd651e46feb3d)
And in case you are thinking of racing out to the road to get a partial clinch:
Quote
Although most of the new road is completed, the finished part of the new road won't be open to drivers until the official opening next summer, Bailey said. That's because construction crew is using the road to stage equipment.
And in case you are thinking of driving the road next summer in order to visit Tanana, this December 7 article (http://www.newsminer.com/opinion/editorials/wheels-keep-turning-on-gas-line-state-moving-forward-with/article_3a80f5a6-9cb1-11e5-b363-5f1be0a9ce68.html) advises that you will need to either bring your own boat or make arrangements with someone in Tanana who has a boat:
Quote
Fortunately, the work remaining to be done on the road is relatively minor, but work can't be done until the area thaws out next spring, so drivers won't be able to use the road for private and commercial traffic until the summer. Even then, those seeking to access Tanana via the road will need to either bring a boat of their own or arrange with someone in the community who has one, as the road terminates on the south bank of the Yukon River and the town is located on the north bank.
I foresee a ferry service operating starting sometime before fall 2016.
Quote from: Alps on December 08, 2015, 10:18:36 PM
I foresee a ferry service operating starting sometime before fall 2016.
How much ferry traffic do you expect there would be to a community with 250 residents?
Quote from: mcarling on December 09, 2015, 11:10:48 AM
Quote from: Alps on December 08, 2015, 10:18:36 PM
I foresee a ferry service operating starting sometime before fall 2016.
How much ferry traffic do you expect there would be to a community with 250 residents?
Not enough to support even the smallest vessel on the Alaska Marine Highway system. But maybe a small two-vehicle barge with a crew of one, operating on-demand rather than on a fixed schedule, could work there.
Something like the cable-guided Pelly Barge in Ross River YT, carrying less than three dozen vehicles a day in season:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alaskaroads.com%2Fpelly-barge-large_DSC6785.jpg&hash=4dbb9ee606f6b4c1c5dab6f762af2dd5bcbed6f5)
BTW, that bridge in the background was pedestrian-only, but closed for safety reasons before my 2012 visit (but reopened in 2018). The bridge also carries an old oil pipeline, decommissioned about six decades ago.
Quote from: Grzrd on December 08, 2015, 12:29:52 PM
Quote
Fortunately, the work remaining to be done on the road is relatively minor, but work can't be done until the area thaws out next spring, so drivers won't be able to use the road for private and commercial traffic until the summer. Even then, those seeking to access Tanana via the road will need to either bring a boat of their own or arrange with someone in the community who has one, as the road terminates on the south bank of the Yukon River and the town is located on the north bank.
So they're spending all that money on a road and people will still have to get to Tanana like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzMUg_LhKCQ
I notice that in the Rand McNally it shows AK 2 ending across the river from Tanana as an unpaved road. It also shows Tanana being the place where two trails intersect. One runs west from Tanana to Kokrines and Ruby before turning into an unpaved road that goes south to Long and Poorman. The Winter Trail on the other hand runs north out of Tanana to Allakaket and Bettles. What exactly are these trails? Can you drive on them or are they for sled dogs?
Quote from: US 41 on December 09, 2015, 02:05:17 PM
I notice that in the Rand McNally it shows AK 2 ending across the river from Tanana as an unpaved road. It also shows Tanana being the place where two trails intersect. One runs west from Tanana to Kokrines and Ruby before turning into an unpaved road that goes south to Long and Poorman. The Winter Trail on the other hand runs north out of Tanana to Allakaket and Bettles. What exactly are these trails? Can you drive on them or are they for sled dogs?
My copy of the 2016 RMcN shows only a winter trail from AK 2 to the Yukon River shore across from Tanana, and does not identify the trail (or the "pioneer road" being built to replace it) as part of AK 2. The state's official numbered route definitions (most recently updated in August of this year) still have AK 2 following the Elliott Highway into and through Manley Hot Springs, ending at the village's boat launch on the Tanana River (well upstream from Tanana village), which is several miles southwest of the Tofty Rd. turnoff to the u/c road to Tanana.
As I mentioned toward the beginning of this thread, we should not assume (never mind the thread title) that the road to Tanana, and perhaps ultimately beyond Tanana toward Nome, will ever be part of AK 2, or even that it will be given any other route number. Many long and major roads in Alaska, including the large three-spoke highway network around Nome, don't have route numbers other than the six-digit internal inventory number assigned to every non-Federal road-like facility in the state.
Winter trails typically are impassible in other seasons, but some of them may be drive-able in the winter, at least on ATVs which are common in western Alaska. I don't know specifically about the roads or trails in the Tanana area.
How many think getting the road all the way to Nome is a pipe dream, and/or something that will not happen for a very long time?
Quote from: The Ghostbuster on December 09, 2015, 02:48:14 PM
How many think getting the road all the way to Nome is a pipe dream, and/or something that will not happen for a very long time?
Is this a poll? Yes, barring some major exploitable resource being discovered along the way.
No poll, just a question on whether anyone thinks the roadway will ever reach Nome.
The state is a little short on money due to the fall in oil prices. The Governor is proposing a state income tax (there is none now),among other things, to address the resulting fiscal crisis.
Like kkt, I think any extension of the highway west of Tanana will probably wait for a really good reason to build it, preferably one where the highway would essentially pay for itself. A big gold discovery would help.
Quote from: Grzrd on December 08, 2015, 12:29:52 PM
Quote from: Grzrd on July 22, 2014, 04:58:42 PM
This article (http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/alaska-starts-work-on-road-to-tanana/article_60f1730a-1139-11e4-a6ed-001a4bcf6878.html) includes a photo of tree clearing along the corridor :
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FSims5k8.jpg&hash=36ca1db029a95f03b0fa01ffb1a7e760c04ac31a)
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... The project's completion date is Dec. 15, 2015 ...
This December 6 article (http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/weather-delays-completion-of-road-to-tanana-until-summer/article_80e7b6f8-9bf6-11e5-9f3c-c3fe20cf5ee2.html), which includes two photos of construction, reports that the project has suffered delays and that the new projected completion date is "early in summer 2016":
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The new road toward the village of Tanana was supposed to be done by Dec. 15, 2015, but it won't meet that deadline because weather got in the way.
First, heavy rainfall in 2014 made for a soggy start to the project. In 2015, a wildfire blew through the construction site, forcing an evacuation.
The construction crew won't finish this year, but they are three miles from the planned terminus on the south bank of the Yukon River, according to Alaska Department of Transportation spokeswoman Meadow Bailey. They also need to make improvements to a bridge over Boulder Creek.
The plan is now to finish the project early in summer 2016.
"It's fairly minor things left to be done. We just ran out of time," she said.
The delays have made the project more expensive. It's now expected to cost $13.5 million, up from the $11 million estimate when construction began, Bailey said.
The new single lane gravel road is the first in about 20 years to connect a bush community to the state's highway network. But it's a tenuous connection. There are no plans to build a bridge between the village on the north bank of the Yukon and the end of the road, which will be about 6 miles upstream on the south bank. Nonetheless, the new road promises to make life cheaper for the 250 residents of Tanana. A 2014 legislative request document for the project estimated the new road will save Tanana $600,000 per year by moving more freight from pricey air freight to less-expensive road and river shipping ....
Here is a snip of an August 2015 construction photo that accompanies the article:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F5SzETfj.jpg&hash=417987a3ff85c4b52e23cfabc72fd651e46feb3d)
And in case you are thinking of racing out to the road to get a partial clinch:
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Although most of the new road is completed, the finished part of the new road won't be open to drivers until the official opening next summer, Bailey said. That's because construction crew is using the road to stage equipment.
And in case you are thinking of driving the road next summer in order to visit Tanana, this December 7 article (http://www.newsminer.com/opinion/editorials/wheels-keep-turning-on-gas-line-state-moving-forward-with/article_3a80f5a6-9cb1-11e5-b363-5f1be0a9ce68.html) advises that you will need to either bring your own boat or make arrangements with someone in Tanana who has a boat:
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Fortunately, the work remaining to be done on the road is relatively minor, but work can't be done until the area thaws out next spring, so drivers won't be able to use the road for private and commercial traffic until the summer. Even then, those seeking to access Tanana via the road will need to either bring a boat of their own or arrange with someone in the community who has one, as the road terminates on the south bank of the Yukon River and the town is located on the north bank.
Such a shame this is in Alaska, man that picture just screams "subdivide me!"
Quote from: oscar on December 10, 2015, 05:31:36 PM
I think any extension of the highway west of Tanana will probably wait for a really good reason to build it
Or Russia paying for it. :-D
Quote from: Duke87 on December 14, 2015, 11:23:37 PM
Quote from: oscar on December 10, 2015, 05:31:36 PM
I think any extension of the highway west of Tanana will probably wait for a really good reason to build it
Or Russia paying for it. :-D
That would be a really good reason :)
Trump would get Russia to pay for it :P
Trump would try to fire Putin and start WW III.
Quote from: Grzrd on February 15, 2015, 10:04:48 AM
This article (http://www.adn.com/article/20150214/army-corps-engineers-plans-expand-port-nome) reports that Corps of Engineers is planning to expand the port at Nome, that the expansion is justified by the potential of increased oil and gas extraction from the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, and that local residents are wary about a potential expansion of the Port Clarence port:
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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is set to unveil its first steps toward expanding deep-water Arctic ports in Alaska, and Corps officials said Friday they plan to start by expanding the existing Port of Nome.
“The report is making the recommendation for construction at Nome at this time basically due to its highly developed area, having a good runway, good hospital, already strong support that’s already there,” said Bruce Sexauer, the Alaska Army Corps’ chief of civil works ....
The Corps eventually hopes to develop a system of deeper ports throughout Western Alaska. That includes the naturally deep-water of Port Clarence near Brevig Mission and Teller ....
Here is the Corps' full draft report (http://www.poa.usace.army.mil/Portals/34/docs/civilworks/arcticdeepdraft/ADDMainReportwithoutappendixes.pdf).
Quote from: Grzrd on October 28, 2015, 12:14:37 PM
This October 26 article (http://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2015/10/26/u-s-army-corps-of-engineers-puts-nomes-port-expansion-on-12-month-hold/) reports that the Corps is putting the Nome port expansion final report on a twelve-month hold because of "the changing economic picture of the Arctic" ....
At the very least, one possible justification for a road connecting Nome to the rest of the Alaskan road network is now questionable.
However, this December 18 article (http://www.newsminer.com/business/senate-advances-measure-for-possible-port-spencer-port-on-alaska/article_7a92efd0-a5e6-11e5-916d-679ebd098bf1.html) reports that the U.S. Senate has passed legislation aimed at assisting the development of a deep-water port for Point Spencer/ Port Clarence (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Port+Clarence+Coast+Guard+Station+Airport/@65.1989962,-166.9248451,51564m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0x57369ddff3084c45:0x486f66d7d6f2798a!6m1!1e1)*:
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The U.S. Senate has passed legislation aimed at assisting the development of a deep-water port on Alaska's west coast for Arctic-bound vessels.
The Point Spencer Land Conveyance Act conveys 2,500 acres of federal land.
The state under the measure would receive about 110 acres of federal lands including shoreline and a right of way for a future road from the airstrip to the mainland.
The Coast Guard would retain 161 acres.
The Bering Strait Native Corp. would receive approximately 2,209 acres as part of its land entitlement under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says in an announcement Friday the Senate by unanimous consent approved the measure in the Coast Guard Authorization Act.
Murkowski spokeswoman Jenna Mason says the House approved the measure Dec. 10.
I suppose Congress is providing the foundation for a deep-water port if the economic picture changes in a positive direction.
* My understanding is that Point Spencer is the geological feature upon which the Port Clarence Coast Guard Station Airport is located. I certainly defer to anyone with better local knowledge.
The Tanana Road is scheduled to open by September 1: (http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/weather-delays-tanana-road-opening-until-september/article_f70ca44c-4731-11e6-a04e-ef7515f7f26e.html)
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This summer's rainy weather has further pushed back the opening of the new state road to the Yukon River near Tanana. The road is now scheduled to open by September.
The single lane gravel road extends 20 miles from Tofty Road outside Manley Hot Springs to the banks of the Yukon. The terminus will be across the river and six miles upstream from Tanana. It's the first road in 20 years to connect a bush community to Alaska's highway network.
As of this week, less than two miles of road remain to be built, said Alaska Department of Transportation spokeswoman Meadow Bailey. Contractor Cruz Construction also has to finish installing culverts, erosion control, a parking area and signs. The project has a completion date of October 1, but is expected to be done by September 1, Bailey said ....
In Tanana, a town of about 250 people, local residents have used the road for the last two winters by building an ice road on the river to connect with the new road, said Tanana resident Patrick Moore.
The road was built both to lower construction costs in Tanana and as leg in a so-far unplanned and unfunded future roadways west across Alaska.
As construction began in 2014, Tanana residents were divided on whether the new road would help or hurt the community. Now that the road is partially operational, Moore – a road supporter – was quick to point out both anti-road and pro-road residents have used the road.
"The naysayers were the first ones over it," he said. "The ones who were against the road."
The completion ceremony for the road to Tanana will be held next Monday, August 29. It will start at road's end near the south bank of the Yukon River about six miles from Tanana, and continue across the river in Tanana.
http://dot.alaska.gov/comm/pressbox/arch_2016/PR16-1019.shtml
One tidbit from the press release:
QuoteThere will not be regular winter maintenance on the road, but it will be opened in early spring in coordination with the City of Tanana's Yukon ice road construction efforts.
How many decades will it be before AK-2 finally makes it to Nome?
Wait until the permafrost is gone, then wait at least 20 years more. For the draft EIS.
Or, until the Russians have their side of the Trans-Bering highway built.
Does anyone have the longitude of the west end of the extension to Tanana?
I wonder if the opening of the road means that Anchor Point has lost its bragging rights to being the westernmost point on North America's contiguous highway network.
This article (http://www.newsminer.com/news/new-tanana-road-is-open-but-river-parking-is-for/article_87db33e0-6e64-11e6-a393-e772947e2741.html) has several photos from the opening, including this shot of the view from the end of the road:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/gallery/1615_30_08_16_3_48_15.png)
Quote
On Monday, Tanana residents and Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities officials celebrated what's being unofficially called the Road to Tanana. The ribbon cutting was held at the road's terminus, a narrow section of cleared land that drops directly into the Yukon River. The community of Tanana is on the other side of the river and six miles downstream ...
The road leads directly into the Yukon River. In the winter, the Alaska Department of Transportation plans to begin plowing the road after the ice has thickened enough for Tanana's city workers to build an ice road over the river.
On Monday afternoon a small flotilla of river boats carried visiting guests from the end of the road to Tanana. It's about a 15-minute riverboat ride into the village. That's much faster than the two-hour riverboat commute between Tanana and Manley Hot Springs or the five-six hour boat ride from river and railroad access in Nenana.
For now, river area parking on Tozitna land near the terminus is only for Tanana residents, Tozitna shareholders, and the Tanana Chiefs Conference, according to a sign posted near the river access point. No representatives from Tozitna attended Monday's ribbon cutting, but the corporation is looking into creating a system that would allow other people to pay to park on corporation land near the river access point, said Shannon Erhart, the tribal administrator of the Tanana Tribal Council.
There are a few dozen yards of state land between the end of the Tozitna land and the riverbank, but it's not really suitable for vehicle parking.
"The intent is that there not be a lot of non-local traffic, but we can't say that officially because it's a public road," Alaska Department of Transportation Commissioner Marc Luiken said in an interview after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
More extensive public Yukon River parking facilities already exist at the Yukon River bridge on the Dalton Highway.
One of my ad/media blocking plugins hid the pictures from me.
Comparing the photos to the topos of the area to the photos....if the road ends across the river from "Mission Hill", the road would end at longitude 151.94°W.
The road to Anchor Point light ends at longitude 151.86°W.
That would suggest that we have a new westernmost point on the contiguous parts of the North American highway network.
However, I'm only guessing where the Tanana road ends. "Across the river from Mission Hill" is more like 4 miles upstream, and the ADOT project map (not very detailed) brings the road to near Sixmile Island, which does look to be about 6 miles upstream. That would be a smidgen east of Anchor Point's longitude.
The end of River Rd in Anchor point looks to be at about -151.867, which is about the east end of Sixmile Island.
Really is too close to call at this point. Once the road makes it into mapping services we'll be able to compare more accurately.
Quote from: Duke87 on August 30, 2016, 10:21:04 PM
The end of River Rd in Anchor point looks to be at about -151.867, which is about the east end of Sixmile Island.
Really is too close to call at this point. Once the road makes it into mapping services we'll be able to compare more accurately.
And just to add to the intrigue, I posed the question on a ham radio forum, as there is a special event in Anchor Point this coming weekend celebrating the western extremity of the highway system.
The organizer of the event was intrigued and called the Alaska DOT. He reported back that they're considering the new road to be (in part) a road through private property, and therefore the end of the contiguous system up there would (in their view) be well short of the Yukon River.
The Anchor Point radio club folks are moving ahead with their special event with a sigh of relief, apparently.
Quote from: MikeTheActuary on August 30, 2016, 10:49:32 PM
He reported back that they're considering the new road to be (in part) a road through private property, and therefore the end of the contiguous system up there would (in their view) be well short of the Yukon River.
Quote from: Grzrd on August 30, 2016, 04:02:11 PM
Quote
"The intent is that there not be a lot of non-local traffic, but we can't say that officially because it's a public road," Alaska Department of Transportation Commissioner Marc Luiken said in an interview after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
What.
Quote from: NE2 on August 31, 2016, 03:56:34 AM
Quote from: MikeTheActuary on August 30, 2016, 10:49:32 PM
He reported back that they're considering the new road to be (in part) a road through private property, and therefore the end of the contiguous system up there would (in their view) be well short of the Yukon River.
Quote from: Grzrd on August 30, 2016, 04:02:11 PM
Quote
"The intent is that there not be a lot of non-local traffic, but we can't say that officially because it's a public road," Alaska Department of Transportation Commissioner Marc Luiken said in an interview after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
What.
I parsed the relayed DOT response as being: "it may be a road that's open to the public, but the land upon which the road is built is privately owned, and therefore it doesn't quite count", as opposed to a road on public-owned right of way.
That, or someone at the DOT is from Anchor Point and doesn't want his home community to lose bragging rights, or because of the parking situation they don't want to encourage tourists on the new road and therefore they're fishing for technicalities, or....
In any case, Anchor Point is still the farthest west PAVED point in the contiguous system.
Of course, the folks in Anchor Point want us to ignore the Alaska Marine Highway auto ferry going part of the year to Dutch Harbor. You can use it to drive out to the end of Captains Bay Road in Unalaska from the rest of the continuous North American highway network, via the Homer ferry terminal south of Anchor Point. See http://www.alaskaroads.com/photos-Unalaska.htm (Of course, it helps to be filthy rich, when I checked in 2007 the round-trip vehicle fare was over $2000.) Counting the ferry link would crush both Anchor Point and the road to Tanana, and even beat the entire Nome road network should that ever be connected to the continuous North American network.
Captains Bay Rd. is unpaved, but there are lots of paved roads in Unalaska, and the roads taking you on and off the ferry are paved in both Homer and Dutch Harbor.
They will need to build this if they ever build a Bering Strait crossing.
That would be too dangerous and not very strategic.