Testifiers oppose West Susitna road and bridge in state's draft transportation plan

The West Susitna Access road and bridge will get its own 30-day public comment period and public meeting when its environmental assessment is released, Transportation Commissioner Ryan Anderson said Tuesday, after two testifiers pressed the department to rethink the project.

The testimony came at a meeting on the state's draft 2027-2030 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, where the road and bridge are listed. Anderson called the environmental review "separate from the STIP that we're doing right now." He gave no date for it.

The draft plan is the state's four-year list of federally funded road, bridge and ferry work. Public comment on it closes at 5 pm Oct. 29.

The project's funding has drawn debate before, including the House Finance Committee's May decision to cut $95 million for the road from the capital budget. In August, the AIDEA board authorized up to $25 million for geotechnical drilling, with its resolution naming Nova Minerals' Estelle project, U.S. GoldMining's Whistler prospect and Terra Energy's coal project as prospects the road would reach.

Steve Perrins put the cost at about $250 million and said he is "very strongly against this." He said the planned boat launch "would actually take longer to get to by driving that road" than the existing Deshka boat launch, which reaches the same rivers. He described the site as deep water, steep banks and fast current, with the far bank marshland. "90% of the community and 20+ wilderness tourism lodges are all against this project," Perrins said.

Stephanie Tompkins, president of Alexander Creek Incorporated, said the first stage stops after about 22 miles. She called it a "connected action" to a gold mine and said the public should know it began as one road. "We're concerned on the impact, not only with the human impact it's going to have on our villages and tribes, over the region, the fish, the rivers, the habitat that are there," Tompkins said, asking that the area studied for effects be enlarged.

Anderson said the road would "access millions of acres of state lands in Alaska. We have very limited road connections to our state lands." He said the review follows federal law, the same as other projects.

A written question from an attendee, read aloud by department staff, said West Susitna appears to carry roughly $189 million in planned advanced construction, with those conversions pushed beyond fiscal year 2030. Deputy Commissioner Katherine Keith said advanced construction is governed by guidelines in the plan, and that the department aims to keep it below about one year of federal highway revenue, roughly $800 million.