The DOT is warning Dillingham drivers to take Kanakanak Road slowly and with caution this winter. Construction will begin again in the spring.
Listeners in Dillingham may have noticed the conditions of roads in the community. There are several road and bridge projects underway and upcoming but waiting means residents have to deal with cracked windshields and bumpy commutes. KDLG’s Thea Card reports.
Dillingham resident Dan Dunaway drove me down Kanakanak Road—slowly, very slowly. It had been raining all day and the snow and ice had melted away. Dunaway said this was improvement.
There are giant holes in the road, no guard rails, it was muddy and bumpy. Even in its quote-unquote “improved” state it felt like the world’s least fun and most uncomfortable roller coaster. Cars and even big trucks that can usually withstand anything stopped on either side of the road then inched across, trying not to destroy the frames of the vehicles or the passengers inside.
The Alaska Department of Transportation is working on resurfacing the road from D Street to Squaw Creek. DOT media liaison Jill Reese says this was not a cheap project.
“It looks like that was almost a $12 million project.”
She says the road should be finished next spring. However, as of right now the state does not plan on facilitating any kind of winter safety precautions.
“You know I think some of the hesitation is because there was a new guard rail configuration and the temporary nature of the road it seems like it’s more narrow but if you get out and measure it, it’s not. A lot of it is that it’s driver responsibility to slow down and drive according to the road conditions and realize that this is a temporary overlay on a construction project. You really need to take that into consideration and slow down more than you normally would.”
However, Reese says DOT is adding a light for the road at the community’s request. But that, just like the rest of the road, will just have to wait until spring.