The state is studying a walking path between Naknek and King Salmon

People walk and bike the Alaska Peninsula Highway between Naknek and King Salmon with no separated path. The state has started engineering and environmental studies on building one.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities gave notice Friday on the Naknek to King Salmon Non-Motorized Pathway and said it will hold a public meeting on the work.

The plan calls for a three-phase pedestrian and bicycle path: about 3.5 miles from downtown Naknek to Shore Street, and about 2.5 miles from downtown King Salmon to Flat Nose Henry Road. Bristol Bay Borough estimates the cost at $6.87 million and cites pedestrian and bicyclist safety and economic development as its reasons.

The borough put the project in a capital improvement document in 2018 and listed it again in 2023. It was included in the state's 2024 Transportation Alternatives Program awards, the federal program Alaska uses to fund rural non-motorized paths.