Alaska

Funding for Alaska highway upgrades to be provided over three years – The Skagway News.

Published

2 years ago

May 24, 2024

Funding for Alaska highway upgrades to be provided over three years – The Skagway News.

By Gretchen Wehmhoff

Following the Memorandum of Understanding signed Feb. 9 by Yukon’s Premier Ranj Pillai and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, much-needed upgrades on the north Alaska Highway will begin in 2025 and continue until the end of the project in 2027.

In February 2024, the Yukon and Alaska submitted a joint application for U.S. government funding under the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program.

Construction and upgrades will be funded by a $31.125M USD (approximately $42.6M CAD) investment by the State of Alaska through the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). This funding will help to ensure safe and efficient travel for Yukoners and Alaskans along a major northern route.

The highway serves as the primary land link between southeast Alaska and the rest of the United States and connects many rural communities in the Yukon including Haines Junction, Destruction Bay, Burwash Landing and Beaver Creek. This roadway also links the traditional territories of the Champagne and Aishihik, Kluane, and White River First Nations.

This agreement commits Alaska’s Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and the Yukon’s Department of Highways and Public Works to work together to restore sections of the Alaska Highway in the Yukon.

The project will target a portion of the north Alaska highway, spanning approximately 222.5 kilometers from Destruction Bay to the Canada/US border. This section faces a range of road maintenance and safety challenges due to thawing permafrost. Restoration efforts will involve resurfacing, repairing the road underneath the surface and culverts. It will also include improvement to the drainage to make sure the road can be used safely at its intended speed.

“This partnership showcases the importance of working in collaboration towards a shared goal for northerners.” Premier Ranj Pillai said in a prepared statement.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) has specific language that allows portions of the Alaska Highway in Canada to compete for and receive US federal grant funding for its reconstruction

In the same statement Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said, “This success in the STIP application underscores the importance of maintaining a safe and efficient passage for all visitors to the North, and we look forward to an exciting construction season ahead.”

STIP is separate from RAISE funding and work can proceed without the latter.

Minister of Highways and Public works in Yukon, Nils Clarke expressed his gratitude to Alaska for contributing to the project.

The funding allocated under this program will help mitigate the effects of thawing permafrost on this essential roadway. This contribution showcases both our governments’ recognition of the importance of this road link, as well as our commitment to keep the north Alaska highway safe for all road travelers,” said Clarke

Gretchen Wehmhoff is the publisher of the The Skagway News. She believes Skagway deserves a newspaper. It’s a special place filled with great people.

Page load link

Go to Top

Source link

Alaska

Alaska Supreme Court to take up case on Dan J. Sullivan, decision expected by Tuesday

Published

9 hours ago

June 29, 2026

Press Room

Alaska Supreme Court to take up case on Dan J. Sullivan, decision expected by Tuesday

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – The Supreme Court of Alaska will be taking up the case of the State of Alaska, Division of Elections v. Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.

The oral arguments will be held Monday at 10 a.m. via Zoom, according to an order and opening notice.

The document also specifies that a decision is expected to be made before noon on Tuesday.

According to documents from the Division of Elections, the state must start printing ballots at noon on the same day.

This comes after an Anchorage Superior Court Judge ordered Dan J. Sullivan on to the ballot Friday.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Source link

Alaska

Mat-Su Initial Attack Responding to Fire in Flat Lake

Published

19 hours ago

June 28, 2026

Press Room

Mat-Su Initial Attack Responding to Fire in Flat Lake

By Alaska Division of Forestry & Fire Protection on June 28, 2026

An engine and firefighters from the Division of Forestry & Fire Protection’s Mat-Su Area are responding to a fire near Flat Lake.

A caller reported a fire on an island in Flat Lake, with 2 foot flame lengths and structures near by.

The engine crew responding will be shuttled by boat to the fire. The fire is currently reported as .1 acre, creeping and smoldering.

Additional updates will be shared as they become available.

‹ Pioneer Peak Hotshots, Gannett Glacier Crew Join Fight Against 2 Fires Near Ruby

Categories: Active Wildland Fire

Tags: #FireYear2026 #2026AKFIRESEASON, 2026 Alaska Fire Season

Source link

Alaska

Opinion: Alaska’s $10,000 question: Leave or stay?

Published

1 day ago

June 28, 2026

Press Room

Opinion: Alaska’s ,000 question: Leave or stay?

A new home under construction in Potter Valley in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

This June, two very different offers reach Alaska families, and both amount to the same thing: $10,000. The difference is everything.

Bill Walker, running for governor, would hand every eligible Alaskan a one-time $10,000 check and then end the Permanent Fund dividend for good. Ask one question: Where does his $10,000 come from?

It comes from the Permanent Fund, the people’s own money and the savings Alaskans built for their children. Walker would spend that endowment once to pay Alaskans to give up the yearly dividend forever.

Think about what that does. It cancels the annual check that gives a family a reason to keep an Alaska address and replaces it with a single payout. You hand people their own savings, call it a gift and cut the tie that held them here in the same motion. It is the oldest mistake in governing money: raid what you have saved to buy a moment’s applause and call the spending generosity.

A plan that spends the people’s savings to send the people away is not bold. It is foolish.

Now consider the other $10,000. Through Alaska Housing Finance Corp., the state offers families up to $10,000 to build a new, energy-efficient home. AHFC raids nothing. It earns its own way. Over the years, it has returned more than $2 billion to the state treasury, and it spends some of that income the way any good business does: to win a customer.

Here, the customer is an Alaskan who wants to own a home, put down roots and stay.

That is the oldest sound move in business: Invest a little of what you earn to bring in someone who stays. The homeowner remains, the community gains a family and the corporation keeps earning. The money spent comes back. A plan that puts earnings to work to bring people home is not charity. It is clever.

Same amount. Opposite source. Opposite wisdom. One spends savings; the other spends earnings. One pays Alaskans to leave; the other pays them to stay. One empties the state; the other fills it.

This Homeownership Month, the choice is the size of a single check, and the whole question is where the check comes from and what it asks of you. Ten thousand dollars of your own fund, to wave you goodbye. Or $10,000, earned and reinvested, to help you stay and build.

Evan Swensen is the publisher of Publication Consultants in Anchorage and the author of “What’s the Money For: A Permanent Fund Mortgage Proposal.”

• • •

The Anchorage Daily News welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.

Source link