State presents $5.63 billion transportation plan Tuesday, seeks public comment

The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities will present its draft four-year transportation plan, which commits $5.63 billion, $130 million more than the resources it counts, at a public meeting Tuesday. The draft plan is known as the STIP.

The public has until 5 pm Oct. 29 to comment. After that, "it takes usually 2 to 3 weeks for us to review comments" before the plan goes to federal regulators, Deputy Commissioner Katherine Keith told the Senate Transportation Committee Sept. 24.

Anchorage transportation planners have drafted objections. In a draft letter, Aaron Jongenelen, who heads Anchorage's transportation planning agency, AMATS, says the plan leaves out required matching money for Anchorage projects and wrongly shows the agency's block grant as $40 million overcommitted. He also asks the department to drop the Safer Seward Highway project, which Anchorage planners have separately urged cutting from Anchorage's own long-range plan unless the state's numbers add up. AMATS's Policy Committee takes up the letter Oct. 15. Ben White, the department's member on an AMATS committee, said Keith was open to edits.

Tuesday's meeting runs from 4 to 5:30 pm on Zoom, with staff presenting the plan and taking questions and comments. Comments can also be submitted online, by email, or by phone or text.