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AK-2 extension to Nome

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

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texaskdog

Trump would get Russia to pay for it :P


kkt

Trump would try to fire Putin and start WW III.

Grzrd

Quote from: Grzrd on February 15, 2015, 10:04:48 AM
This article 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 ....
Here is the Corps' full draft report.
Quote from: Grzrd on October 28, 2015, 12:14:37 PM
This October 26 article 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 reports that the U.S. Senate has passed legislation aimed at assisting the development of a deep-water port for Point Spencer/ Port Clarence*:

Quote
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.

Grzrd

The Tanana Road is scheduled to open by September 1:

Quote
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."

oscar

#129
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.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

The Ghostbuster

How many decades will it be before AK-2 finally makes it to Nome?

Bickendan

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.

MikeTheActuary

#132
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.

Grzrd

This article has several photos from the opening, including this shot of the view from the end of the road:



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.

MikeTheActuary

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.

Duke87

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.
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

MikeTheActuary

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.

NE2

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.
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

MikeTheActuary

#138
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....

vdeane

In any case, Anchor Point is still the farthest west PAVED point in the contiguous system.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

oscar

#140
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.
my Hot Springs and Highways pages, with links to my roads sites:
http://www.alaskaroads.com/home.html

Howpper

They will need to build this if they ever build a Bering Strait crossing.

Avalanchez71

That would be too dangerous and not very strategic.



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