State now expects Ketchikan viaduct repairs to start in 2030, the second delay since August

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities now expects construction to start in 2030 on repairs to Ketchikan's Water Street and Tongass Avenue viaducts, according to a notice published Wednesday. The Water Street viaduct carries 14,000 vehicles a day through downtown, Alaska News reported Sept. 10.

The date has slipped twice since August. An archived Aug. 13 copy of the project page said the three funded near-term projects could be built as early as 2027. The page later said 2028. The notice warns of lane closures, detours, pedestrian-route changes and access disruptions during construction.

The three stages cover pavement and deck repairs, structural repairs to girders and columns, and the Jim Creek culvert replacement and filling of voids under Water Street. The department says none of that work is meant to replace the viaducts.

The money behind the project is shifting too. The approved state transportation plan, amended and federally approved Sept. 16, carries $28.5 million for Stage 2 structural repairs in federal fiscal year 2027. The draft 2027-2030 plan instead puts Stage 2 at $25 million, all in 2031 or later, with $5.8 million for Stage 1 construction in 2028 and $8.3 million in construction on the main project in 2029. The notice does not say whether the 2030 start applies to every stage.

The draft also adds $10.25 million in 2027 to design a replacement for deteriorated sections of the Water Street Viaduct, using a hillside retaining wall and earth embankment and rebuilding the Schoenbar Road intersection. Department open house boards said a full replacement is "not currently approved but is being evaluated for funding through the STIP," the state transportation plan. The draft has not been adopted.

"In Ketchikan, we have waterfront viaducts that need to get replaced. They're back from the 1950s," Deputy Commissioner Katherine Keith said at an online meeting on the draft plan this month. The plan rates the Water Street Viaduct poor, 4 of 9. Both viaducts were rehabilitated in 1999 and 2009, and the department lists emergency repairs in 2024.

Comments on the draft plan are due by 5 pm Oct. 29. Comments on the project notice are due Nov. 19. The department expects the project to qualify for a Categorical Exclusion under the National Environmental Policy Act.