FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) – Hundreds of families, locals and tourists alike, turned out at the Alaska Railroad Depot on Saturday for the popular open house. The guests not only got to see the sights, meet the engineers and conductors, as well as learn more about the railroad, but they also got to climb aboard the trains and take a ride down the rail.

“So for the free train rides today our goal is to get as many people out to enjoy a train ride,” said Meghan Clemens, Alaska Railroad External Affairs Director, “so we’re keeping them pretty short. We’ve got eight 30-minute departures that we’re running today, and each of those trains can hold about 300 people so there’s room for everybody.”

Each trip took about 20 minutes for visitors to climb into the train coaches and ride down the rail and back. Meanwhile inside the depot, a variety of educational and fun displays were set up.

“It’s a great event that we like to do at the end of the season,” Clemens added, “to be able to welcome out folks from Fairbanks to come take a free train ride, have a chance to get on board a locomotive, we’ve got some static equipment out here we’ve got some heavy equipment people can learn about, we’ve got prize giveaways, we’ve got magician, we’ve got all sorts of fun things for the family to do out here at the depot today!”

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Copyright 2024 KTVF. All rights reserved.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The 14th annual Mat-Su Kabayan Gala invited Filipinos, and those who appreciate the culture, to Wasilla to celebrate and appreciate their heritage on Saturday.

The Filipino community in Alaska is about 30,000 strong, staff at the event said, and is a tight-knit community. Event coordinator Lhing McNeal said she believes it’s crucial to connect Filipino families with each other, especially those who might not know exactly what their culture looks like.

“We are so far away from home, we need that community,” said McNeal.

Dancing and traditional food are the highlights of the event every year. McNeal said the event is also about young Filipinos needing see themselves represented in the community.

“To pass it on with our culture and traditions,” said McNeal. “That way our children will be able to see it and promote it to the next generation.”

Deputy commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Nelson San Juan, said the Mat-Su Kabayan Gala makes him proud to call Alaska home.

“I couldn’t ask for a better community,” said San Juan. “This group is just so communal. The state of Alaska in general is communal.”

Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.

STIP Amendment #1 partial approval resolves ten of 14 corrective actions.

(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) — The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) concludes the 2024 federal fiscal year with the successful delivery of over $1B of transportation related projects. This includes over $650 million in federally funded highways projects, over $300M in federally funded aviation projects, and many other projects funded through the State of Alaska capital budget.

“Overall, as in previous years, we obligated every federal dollar available to us on transportation projects” said Dom Pannone, Alaska DOT&PF Program Management and Administration Director. “Our team successfully obligated $662 million in Federal Highways dollars alone, despite the fact that the August Redistribution amount approved by FHWA was lower than recent years.”

In addition, STIP Amendment #1 partial approval was received this week. Five railbelt projects were excluded, including the Richardson Highway MP 346 Bridge project that was determined in March to meet federal regulatory requirements for exemptions from air quality conformity analysis. This was confirmed March 8, 2024, by interagency consultation facilitated by FAST Planning and comprised of experts from DEC, EPA, FTA, and FHWA. The project currently resides outside the MPO boundaries but within the air quality non-attainment area. DOT&PF will be evaluating this finding, among others, with federal partners.

Another 18 rural projects were excluded, which were all discretionary grants applied for by Tribal, village or other rural entities. This exclusion does not mean that the projects will not move forward, but rather FHWA’s preference for where the projects are listed. Whenever the directions from the federal government are not clear, the department will err on the side of caution, including discretionary grants in the STIP to avoid the project not being able to advance. The exclusion provides the clarity the state and local sponsors need to move forward.

Partial approvals have not been used in the past but are becoming more frequent for FHWA to communicate expectations to the State’s STIP team in writing to formally codify the new expectations with Alaska.

“We want to thank our federal partners for working with us over the past six months on successfully delivering Alaska’s transportation program in 2024,” said Commissioner Ryan Anderson. “Alaska’s unique challenges and opportunities require careful consideration of the State’s role in sovereignty in advancing infrastructure decisions, in coordination with federal, state, and local partners, in the last frontier.”

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities oversees 237 airports, 9 ferries serving 35 communities, over 5,600 miles of highway and 839 public facilities throughout the state of Alaska. The mission of the department is to “Keep Alaska Moving through service and infrastructure.”

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