Dyea Flats Road near Skagway faces two full closures for culvert work

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park will cut Dyea Flats Road to one lane starting Oct. 15, the park announced Wednesday. Crews will later close the road twice to through traffic to install two culverts near the Slide Cemetery and Lost Lake Trailhead turnoff. The work runs through Nov. 23.

Flaggers will run single-lane traffic, with delays, from Oct. 15 to 23 and again from Nov. 18 to 23. Between Oct. 24 and Nov. 17, the road will close for five to seven days while crews put in a smaller culvert south of Slide Cemetery Road, then for 10 to 12 days for a larger one east of it. It will reopen for at least three days between the two closures. The park will announce exact dates later, and weather could shift the schedule.

Property owners will get permits to park a limited number of vehicles on either side of the work zone, plus a temporary pedestrian crossing during full closures. Everyone else may park at the Chilkoot Trailhead and walk to the Dyea townsite, Slide Cemetery and the flats. The park's release does not say how emergency vehicles will reach Dyea during the closures.

The park said the work will improve drainage and reduce the risk of washouts during extreme flooding. Flooding on the Taiya River closed the Chilkoot Trail and the Dyea campground in August 2021. The road was last rebuilt in 2016 and 2017 under a Federal Highway Administration-funded project.

The National Park Service signed a $1.39 million contract for the drainage work on April 29 with SMNC Solutions-AMES1 Joint Venture of Anchorage, federal spending records show.