HISTORY: In 1997, Road Commissioner Joe Perkins Discussed The Ongoing Issues Of Our Roads

COPPER RIVER COUNTRY JOURNAL 

HISTORY  

OCTOBER 16TH, 1997 

Road Commissioner Joe Perkins 

Says McCarthy Road & Denali Highway Must Be Paved  

To Reduce Maintenance Costs 

COPPER RIVER-It seems that almost every bad road in the state must be in the Copper River Valley. When State Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph Perkins talked with a group that met just before the Alaska Visitor's Association Convention in Anchorage this month, he happened to mention one Copper River road after another. And the Tok Cutoff received the dubious distinction of being the worst road in Alaska. Perkins says that to reduce maintenance costs, he is mounting a campaign to pave all gravel roads - including the Denali Highway and the McCarthy Road.

This week, in an interview with the Journal, Perkins said that one reason Copper River roads are so bad is that this region has what is known as "warm permafrost" - between 30 and 32 degrees. Always on the border between freezing and thawing, the permafrost melts at the slightest disturbance - including a road running over it. "Cold permafrost" the other hand, which can run at a much cooler 20 degrees, can handle a change of 2 or 3 degrees. "It's still frozen," explained Perkins.

The following are excerpts from his interview with the Journal on the condition of local roads and his plans for them:

The Glenn Highway: "We're trying to bring it up to what we call the national highway standards - a 24-foot road with shoulders on it, where possible. We will be putting in passing lanes."

The Denali Highway:  "We spend about half a million a year on maintenance of the Denali. That's the whole road. What we're going to do is put some kind of hard surface on the (gravel) roads as quickly as we can. It protects our investment, and all the gravel we put on it. And it reduces the maintenance cost sizably... We're going to try to reduce our costs by paving as many roads as we can... We've been through a series of budget reductions almost every year for the past 10 years... (The Denali) is surfaced right now to Tangle Lakes. This (road surfacing) project that has been approved by the legislature would take the hard surfacing... as far as the MacLaren River..."

Camper on the Denali Highway. (Photo, courtesy BLM)

At the Alaska Visitors Association Convention, Perkins said that the $500,000 spent yearly in grading the Denali was immediately wasted because the fine material put on the road blew off and the larger rocks left behind rolled off the road and into the ditch.

The Tok Cutoff: "We're going to put some major maintenance effort on the Tok Cutoff next year. We're going to get as much of the permafrost humps and valleys out of it as we can. If I can reduce the cost of the Denali and roads like that, then I can put some of the money we save on the Tok Cutoff. The problem with the Tok Cutoff is (it's) built mainly on permatrost, and the permafrost is going to do what it wants to. What we've got to do is learn to live with it. We need to get all the (current) work done, and we need to go back in every year and correct the bad portions on it. The problem is we're so far behind..."

The AVA passed a resolution asking for special attention to the Tok Cutoff, a major tourist route.

The Richardson Highway At Sourdough: "That Sourdough piece is bad, and we have work scheduled for it." When you get past Sourdough, there's  a stretch of 10 to 12 miles that's narrow and needs rebuilding. But, from the Gakona to Sourdough area, what it needs is maintenance on the surface. We're going to try our best."

The McCarthy Road: "McCarthy Road is a road that we have thrown in our hopper. It is not a very high priority schedule, (due) around 2005. It's a very expensive project..." Perkins anticipates paving the McCarthy Road. "The kind of pavement we are talking about if we do the McCarthy Road is a surface treatment (like the Edgerton). Perkins says that maintenance costs are greatly reduced through the use of a chip seal, which protects the 6 inches of gravel on a gravel road, and which can be more easily fixed than rigid hot-mix asphalt. "We need to change the type of paving we're using in the Interior in those permafrost areas."

Kuskulana bridge, McCarthy Road. (Photo, Journal Archives)

The Edgerton:  "We're going into all the permafrost areas, to tear them up, get them back down smooth, and put chip-seal over them."

The Nabesna Road: The Nabesna Road, which suffered severe damage in flooding this summer wasn't classified correctly for federal emergency funds. Perkins said he has been working with the Federal Highway Department, which has revised classification of the Nabesna Road. A week ago, the Department of Transportation got a letter saying the Nabesna Road was not eligible for federal assistance, using federal emergency funds for repairs.

Slana, off the Tok Cutoff. (Photo, Journal Archive)

FROM THE JOURNAL ARCHIVES