Dalton Highway narrows to one lane at Milepost 315.5 on Wednesday, with work expected into October

Permanent repairs to the Dalton Highway at Milepost 315.5 begin Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 6 a.m., narrowing the North Slope's overland supply route to a single lane. The department's project record lists an anticipated completion date of Oct. 1.

Drivers between Mileposts 314.5 and 316 should expect 24-hour flagging operations and delays of up to 20 minutes, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said in its Northern Region construction update. The project covers drainage and embankment repairs and surfacing. The fish pass culvert for the repair is being assembled.

The same record lists an Aug. 1 start and shows the contract as not yet awarded, naming no contractor.

The damage dates to the June 2025 flooding. Rapid spring melt along the Sagavanirktok River drainage severed the highway on Saturday, June 14, 2025, and damaged the corridor between Mileposts 315 and 404, DOT&PF said. At Milepost 315, floodwaters cut a 90-foot-long, 30-foot-deep gap in the roadbed. The closure stranded freight carriers and disrupted deliveries of fuel and industrial equipment, the department said.

Gov. Michael Dunleavy signed a state disaster declaration on June 19. "DOT&PF crews and contractors are continuing to work around the clock to restore this 88 mile section, but the extent of the damage exceeds the department's capacity for routine emergency maintenance," the department said in a press release that day. The declaration qualified the state for Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief funding, which the department said may reimburse up to 100 percent of emergency opening costs and 90 percent of permanent repair work.

The route carries fuel, equipment and freight to the North Slope oil fields and to the camps and communities along the corridor.

Elsewhere on the Dalton, delineator replacement between Mileposts 247 and 289 and between 305 and 362 runs through Oct. 1, with single-lane flagging and pilot cars in two-mile stretches.

The weekly update reflects only the department's account of conditions on the road. Current closures and delays are posted at 511.alaska.gov. Questions about the Milepost 315.5 project go to Richard Stout at [email protected].