State's draft plan would replace, not repair, Kodiak's Sargent Creek Bridge

The state's draft transportation plan, released for comment in September, would replace Kodiak's Sargent Creek Bridge, with construction in 2029, instead of the temporary repair the current plan calls for.

The draft plan, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities' list of projects for 2027 through 2030, puts about $6.8 million toward the work. The current plan lists $565,000 for repairs it calls "a temporary solution." The draft isn't final. Its public comment period closed Oct. 29.

The bridge, built in 1980, carries Rezanof Drive over Sargent Creek. With the nearby Russian River bridge, it's the only road between Kodiak and the area beyond Womens Bay, including a neighborhood of about 800 people. State inspectors have found cracks in both bridges' concrete girders, and both are narrower than the road on either side, according to a draft statement for a study of the two bridges. Losing them would limit emergency services, it says.

That study, run by the department and the Kodiak Island Borough, is looking for a long-term replacement for both bridges and ways to cut flooding upstream. The draft plan says the Sargent Creek replacement will be coordinated with it.

The department will show draft options from the study at an open house Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 4:30 to 7:30 pm at the Womens Bay Fire Station. The team will present a revised purpose and need statement, draft alternatives and preliminary screening results. Comments are requested by Jan. 1, the state's notice says.

The study is also looking at flooding. Residents report that roads and buildings in the area flood multiple times a year, the draft statement says, and the community has raised concerns about repeated flooding in the Bells Flats and Russian Creek subdivisions. Gravel piling up behind the bridges may be adding to it. Borough Manager Aimee Williams told the Borough Assembly in June that Sargent Creek Road, the only way in and out of those subdivisions, was underwater for almost two days.

The study costs about $1.61 million, including a $1.29 million federal Bridge Investment Program grant. It's the second open house, after one in November 2025. A draft study and final recommendations are still to come.