Anchorage Assembly to vote on $76M Eagle River road deal with sole bidder

Residents and businesses in the Chugiak, Birchwood, and Eagle River areas depend on year-round maintenance of roughly 210 miles of paved roads, and the contract that funds that work is up for renewal with only one responsive bid received. The Anchorage Assembly is scheduled to vote June 23 on a road maintenance contract worth up to approximately $76.1 million — if both two-year options are exercised and all available funds are expended — for the Chugiak-Birchwood-Eagle River Rural Road Service Area (CBERRRSA), with McKenna Brothers Paving the sole responsive bidder.

The contract is funded by property taxes levied within the service area, meaning CBERRRSA residents bear the cost directly. McKenna Brothers bid $10,873,990 per year on the maintenance contract, which covers those roads through April 2029, with two additional two-year options. The current contract expires at the end of June 2026. The recommendation also requests $1 million in change-order authority on the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity agreement, and the initial term begins upon contract execution rather than on the Assembly meeting date. The contract covers both summer and winter maintenance tasks as well as limited construction, with each task administered on an as-needed basis and funding identified on individual purchase orders.

Bids for solicitation ITB 2026B042 were opened June 10, 2026, with one responsive bid received from McKenna Brothers. A companion asphalt paving contract for the same area drew two bids when opened June 9, 2026. McKenna Brothers bid $574,980 against an engineer's estimate of $700,000, while the only other bidder, Alaska Asphalt Services, was deemed non-responsive. Senior Accountant Heather Reed signed the maintenance contract award recommendation, which Mayor Suzanne LaFrance submitted to the Assembly. Reed also signed the paving recommendation.

McKenna Brothers is not new to large Anchorage road contracts. In 2021, the Assembly was recommended to approve a $7,000,000 contract award to the company for municipal road work. Assembly member Christopher Constant noted at an August 2025 meeting that the maintenance relationship has spanned four administrations. "It tends to be the view of the administration that efficiency, because of the scale of the project, argues there's really no one else qualified," Constant said. "It could almost be sole source."

The Assembly takes up both contracts at its June 23 meeting.