Infrastructure
RSSInfrastructure in Alaska is the physical systems and public facilities that communities build and maintain. It includes transportation, utilities, and public works projects managed by state, municipal, and federal agencies. These efforts cover roads, water systems, and power grids.
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Week of Jul 27
Cordova's broken pool feeds a push to merge its aging rec buildings
Cordova's pool sits broken with no reopening date — the sharp end of an aging-buildings problem now pushing the city to merge the pool and rec center.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
State would lease airport land at 18 cents a foot until 2076
Alaska wants to rent two acres at its busiest cargo airport for 18 cents a foot until 2076. A bargain for Anchorage, or a 50-year giveaway?
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Klondike Highway closes overnight near Skagway for rockfall work
The Klondike Highway near Skagway is closed 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weeknights for rockfall work. Evening single-lane delays up to 10 minutes until 11.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
The new Richardson Highway bridge takes shape at Mile 346
The last girders are up on the new Richardson Highway bridge at Mile 346 — a rebuild aimed at reopening a key Valdez-to-Canada freight route to heavy loads.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 20
State weighs 30-year lease for St. Michael barge dock
No roads reach St. Michael, so everything arrives by barge. The state is now weighing a 30-year lease for the dock it lands at.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
West Petersville Road is washed out, and the creek won't let crews in
West Petersville Road is washed out at Kenny Creek with no reopening date — crews can't start until the water slows down enough to work in.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
More than 100 land deals stand between Alaska and a safer KGB Road
Alaska can't fix KGB Road until it buys land from 100-plus owners. Elsewhere a Gustavus generator waits on a signature. Everything's sliding to 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
A sinkhole swallowed a Seward Highway lane, and that lane is closed for a month
A sinkhole ate a northbound lane of the Seward Highway at Potter Marsh. Crews are on it around the clock — and it stays closed until August 24.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
More from Infrastructure
The program mapping Alaska's unknown ground expires this year
Most of Alaska's interior has never been mapped with modern tools. The federal program that's been fixing that runs out at the end of this year.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Many Bethel homes still haul water. This money starts to change that.
Many Bethel residents still get water by truck. The state just forgave $3.4 million in loans that starts the design work toward piping it instead.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Nome port's national security designation could save city $132 million in construction costs
A Senate bill could cut Nome's share of its Arctic port project from 35 percent to 10 percent, saving the city $132 million as construction begins this summer.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
Nenana River erosion threatens Alaska Railroad mainline; DNR proposes 6-acre land sale near Healy
Alaska is selling 6 acres of state land to the Alaska Railroad so it can move its mainline tracks away from the eroding Nenana River near Healy. Comments due August 14.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min readFrom 
Rocket Lab wins $266 million DoD contract for suborbital launches from Kodiak spaceport
Rocket Lab won a $266 million Defense Department contract for at least 12 suborbital launches from Kodiak's state-owned spaceport by end of 2028.
by Melinda Communities.News3mo ago2 min read
Kawerak extends RFP deadline for construction management services in Bering Strait Region
Kawerak extended its deadline to July 31 for construction management firms to bid on transportation projects across the Bering Strait Region.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Fairbanks: Old Chena Ridge Road and Transfer Site access close July 27 for season
Old Chena Ridge Road and Transfer Site access close July 27 through the construction season for roundabout work at the Chena Pump Road intersection, part of a $3 million safety project.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Week of Jul 13
Anchorage Assembly set to approve $1.4M fire engine with 900-day wait
Anchorage Assembly votes July 21 on a $1.4 million fire engine that won't arrive for roughly 900 days due to nationwide manufacturing delays.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Coming up
Haines Borough Ports and Harbors Advisory Committee Meeting
Assembly Chambers, 315 Haines Highway, Haines, AK, and Zoom (Meeting ID 833 2336 7111, passcode 744008)
Meeting
Alaska Energy Authority Tax-Exempt Bonds Public Hearing
Hearing
Valdez City Council Work Session: High School Renovation Project
Meeting
Haines Borough Assembly Regular Meeting
Meeting
Loring Service Area Board Meeting
Meeting
About Infrastructure
Infrastructure in Alaska takes in the physical systems that communities build and maintain, including roads and bridges, water and sewer lines, power grids, ports, harbors, docks and airports. State, municipal and federal agencies manage this work alongside utilities and tribal organizations.
Much of it is paid for with federal grants, state money and local loans, from airport grants to rail and grid awards. Recurring questions involve aging structures such as failing weirs, cracked bridges and worn water pipes, seismic retrofits, and the cost of replacing village fuel tanks and buildings in remote places where freight is expensive.
Infrastructure connects closely to energy, utility rates and economic development. Decisions about a single dock, pipe or road often fall to a city council or borough assembly, which weighs grants, loans and design options before work begins.
More from Infrastructure
TCC seeks contractor for new Rampart health clinic, proposals due August 21
Tanana Chiefs Conference is seeking a general contractor to build a new health clinic in Rampart, with proposals due August 21 and construction expected to finish by the end of 2027.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Anchorage landfill contract hits $16M after starting at $30,004
Anchorage Assembly votes Tuesday on a $983,510 amendment to its landfill contract, pushing the total to $16.1 million since the deal started at $30,004 in 2021.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Anchorage resolution would steer infrastructure to neighborhoods absorbing new housing
Anchorage Assembly will vote Tuesday on a resolution directing city infrastructure spending toward neighborhoods absorbing new housing under municipal growth plans.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Senate bill would fast-track Army Corps engineering for Juneau's glacial flooding
A Senate bill would let the Army Corps of Engineers skip study steps and move straight to designing a permanent fix for Juneau's glacial lake flooding, which threatens nearly 1,900 homes each summer.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
Kodiak plans September DC lobbying trip as defense program bid fails again
Kodiak's defense infrastructure program bid failed again, but the borough and city are planning a joint September lobbying trip to pursue $150 billion in federal energy and defense funding.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Senate panel advances water bill with Alaska Native village sanitation, Nome port, and Juneau flood provisions
Senate panel approved a water bill directing $60 million yearly to Alaska Native village sanitation and fast-tracking Juneau's glacial flood response.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Fairbanks riverwalk gap closure gets commission review next week
Fairbanks commission reviews Phase III of Chena Riverwalk on July 22, a trail segment to close a gap near Pioneer Park, after city council opposed the current design as too expensive.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
North Slope Borough approves $5M water and sewer increase after Point Lay freeze-up
North Slope Borough approved a $5 million increase to its water and sewer contract Monday after a village-wide freeze-up in Point Lay that has lasted since December 2025.
by Lucas Brown3mo ago2 min read
Anchorage's landfill needs $1.9 million in new heavy equipment
Can you believe it equipment gets old! Womp Womp
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A tiny Alaska post office runs out of a cabin, and the state wants to keep it
Skwentna's post office runs out of a private cabin at a fly-in airport, and the state just moved to renew the lease keeping it open.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Ketchikan's fishing fleet is stuck without showers in peak season
A collapsed drain pipe left Ketchikan's fishing fleet without public showers during peak season — and nobody's even opened the floor yet. One fisherman gave the harbor board an earful.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A shifting wall threatens Bethel's freight lifeline
A sheet pile wall at Bethel's port is shifting, and the Corps wants an engineering fix — a worry for the roadless Y-K Delta's only real freight lifeline.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Anchorage Assembly set to vote July 21 on nearly $3M landfill tipping building contract
Anchorage Assembly votes July 21 on a $2.99 million contract to replace the 40-year-old public tipping building at the Eagle River landfill, with work to finish in 180 days.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 4mo ago2 min read
Environmental groups rally against a wave of proposed Alaska data centers
Two Alaska environmental groups are rallying in Fairbanks against a wave of proposed data centers — and the lack of any statewide rules for them.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Steel and pilings shrink Juneau's Oak Landing to a third its size
Steel doubled and the ground needs 100-foot pilings, so Juneau's Oak Landing is shrinking to a third its size — but the welcome center, shops and seawalk survive.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
A glacier-dammed lake is emptying into the Salmon River near Hyder
A glacier-dammed lake above Hyder is draining out the bottom of the Salmon Glacier, swelling the Salmon River and threatening the Premier road — like it has almost every summer since 1961.
by Maggie AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
A gravel permit for the pipeline, and a question about what Alyeska pays
A routine permit lets Alyeska pull gravel from the Sag floodplain for pipeline upkeep — but not what the private pipeline giant pays the public for it. A senator's been asking.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Juneau may spend its last prime waterfront lot on a bathroom
Juneau's last prime chunk of downtown waterfront might become… a public restroom and a covered spot to stand. At least one Assembly member is asking if that's really the best use.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Alaska's first big AI data center clears a hurdle on the North Slope
A company wants to burn North Slope gas on-site to run AI computing near Deadhorse — turning 50 years of stranded gas into power, if the financing, customers and gas contract ever show up.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Week of Jul 6
Air Force opens bidding to lease 4,400 acres at Eielson for private development
Air Force is leasing 4,400 acres at Eielson to a private developer for up to 50 years, with proposals due August 10. The developer covers all costs and environmental cleanup on contaminated sites.
by Melinda Communities.News4mo ago2 min read
Juneau airport board votes July 9 on $50,697 local match for tower roof grant
Juneau airport board votes July 9 on spending $50,697 from reserves to match a $963,247 federal grant for replacing the air traffic control tower roof.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min readFrom 
Wasilla's sewer plan is 25 years old — and it's stalling development
Wasilla's sewer master plan hasn't been touched since 1999, and the gap is already slowing new housing — now the city may take $75K in state money to finally update it.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min readFrom 
Juneau's tower grant comes with a catch: it drains the airport's savings
The FAA will cover most of the $1M fix for Juneau's 1987-era control tower — but the airport's small share would drain nearly half its already-thin savings.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min readFrom 
Juneau's dangerous Egan Drive left turn is finally getting a signal
A $12.15M federal grant will finally put a signal at Juneau's Egan-Yandukin intersection, where left-turners cross highway traffic blind and pedestrians can't cross safely.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
