The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is soliciting comments and information on a proposal to improve approximately 3.2 miles of Crooked Creek Road, approximately 0.8 mile of Johnson Lake Road, and approximately 3.0 miles of Tustumena Lake Road located just east of Sterling Highway in Kasilof, Alaska. The purpose of the proposed project is to provide a hard driving surface for roadway use and improve road drainage. These improvements will enhance the safety and drivability by eliminating existing pot holes and washboarding, reduce airborne particulate (dust), improve drainage along the roadway corridor and reduce maintenance costs.

The proposed project is a State-funded project that involves paving the road surfaces, adding shoulders, removing and replacing cross culverts as needed, and upgrading guard rails and signs. Tustumena Lake Road will be widened approximately 10 feet while the remaining roads will remain their current width. All work will be contained within the existing DOT&PF right-of-way and prescriptive easement. The prescriptive easement is being claimed by DOT&PF along portions of Crooked Creek Road.

No work will be required in tidelands, fish streams, or in the floodplain of any creeks. Small amounts of wetland fill will be required along portions of Crooked Creek Road where existing cross culverts will be replaced. Clearing of vegetation and utility adjustments along the Tustumena Lake Road may be required to accommodate widening. Construction is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2010.

As presently envisioned, DOT&PF anticipates environmental impacts associated with the project to be minimal. To ensure that all possible factors are considered in the design of the proposed project, DOT&PF is requesting public comments and recommendations. Please provide written comments to the following address by December 02, 2009.

Brian A. Elliott
Environmental Manager
Preliminary Design & Environmental
Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
P.O. Box 196900
Anchorage, Alaska 99519-6900

If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact John Linnell, P.E., Project Manager, at 269-0571 or Holly Sanders, Environmental Impact Analyst, at 269-0528. Persons with a hearing impairment can contact DOT&PF at our Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD) at 269-0674. We can offer reasonable accommodations for special needs related to other disabilities.