DOT Reopens Chitina Highway Station After Shutting Down 4 Years Ago During Budget Cuts

Station Opened Monday After Closing In October, 2016 Using Special Federal Highway CARES Funds 

Snowplow on an Alaskan road. (Photo, Alaska DOT)

The Alaska State Department of Transportation is opening the Chitina Highway Station, expediting snow clearing and road maintenance along the Richardson Highway and other roads north of Valdez in the southern Copper River Valley. The station maintains part of the Edgerton and Old Edgerton highways, and part of the McCarthy Road.

Caitlin Frye of DOT in Fairbanks is reported on WJCT Public Media as saying that both Chitina and Birch Lake near Fairbanks will be operational. The stations will be reopened for a year and a half with funding through the federal CARES Act, and the federal government is paying for their operations using a grant for the federal highway system. 

https://www.blogger.com/#The $1.2 million grant for the two facilities will be used for the rest of FY21 and FY22. The Department of Transportation says that it's looking for "permanent funding" options for the two reopened stations. 

According to WJCT, the state has been struggling on its highway maintenance projects for the past four years in both areas, trying to stay ahead of potholes and frost heaves as well as clearing snow.