Federal highway money buys a Ketchikan crosswalk fix and one more slice of the Saxman road

The Federal Highway Administration has obligated about $2.3 million to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities for two Ketchikan projects, and only one of them is new work.

The larger award, $1.25 million, is a Highway Safety Improvement Program project at the Stedman Street and Deermount Street intersection, where DOT&PF will add illumination to meet current department standards and build a concrete sidewalk bulbout on the Stedman side of the marked crosswalk. It runs through April 30, 2028, carries no non-federal match, and about $339,000 has been spent.

The second, $1,058,737, is the tenth federal obligation to the Saxman to Surf Street pavement rehabilitation on South Tongass Highway, a project that has drawn about $8.4 million since its earliest awards. It runs through December 31, 2027 and carries a non-federal share of $105,094, roughly 9 percent. It is not safety-program money. A companion widening project from Deermount Street to Saxman has drawn about $7.2 million more.

The funded scope includes widening, alignment and drainage work, reconstruction and repaving, a new recreational path on the water side of the roadway, and additional parking if the pathway removes it. The award also pays for geotechnical and coastal engineering, utility coordination with the Ketchikan and Saxman communities, and additional public involvement on the right-of-way challenges the pathway creates.

DOT&PF's project page describes rehabilitating about three miles from Deermount Street to Surf Street with a pedestrian and bike pathway from the Coast Guard base to Saxman, with construction anticipated to start in 2026. DOT&PF's Ketchikan overview lists the work as still in design at $10 million to $20 million, while a separate construction-administration solicitation carries a range of $40 million to $50 million, and project documentation flags scope, cost and right-of-way impacts as ongoing concerns.

At a DOT&PF advertising schedule meeting on Feb. 3, a speaker identified only as Miller called it a "pretty important project for the region," citing a "big right-of-way component that's ongoing right now, lots of parcels to obtain."