Alaska put $5.63 billion in road and ferry plans out for comment

Alaskans have until Oct. 29 to weigh in on $5.63 billion in highway, bridge and ferry spending through 2030. The state has scheduled no public meetings or hearings on it.

The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities released the draft on Monday. It is the state's four-year program for federally funded surface transportation, and it commits about $1.4 billion a year.

The draft sets four priorities: safety work and rehabilitation of aging highways and bridges, especially on the corridors the federal government considers most important to the national economy; frontier roads reaching communities, resources and recreation; Alaska Marine Highway System vessels, terminals and service; and transit, walking and biking, community transportation and recreational trails.

The department says the draft responds to rising construction costs by updating project budgets and protecting work already underway, and that it balances large projects against smaller construction-ready ones to keep contractors competing and the state workforce employed. Commissioner Ryan Anderson said it invests in "safer roads, reliable ferries, stronger highway corridors" while responding to those costs.

The department runs nine ferries serving 35 communities and more than 5,600 miles of highway.