Seward Highway fully reopened after dump truck hits overpass

All northbound lanes of the Seward Highway were reopened early Tuesday after a dump truck with its bed raised struck the Tudor Road overpass last Thursday, shutting down traffic for days.

Shannon McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, said crews were able to begin reopening lanes around 9 p.m. Monday. Two lanes are also open in each direction on Tudor Road, but the eastbound turning lane onto the northbound Seward Highway remains restricted, McCarthy said.

A girder that was damaged in the crash has been removed, and a local manufacturer has been commissioned to make a replacement, McCarthy said. Repairs will cost roughly $1.5 million.

McCarthy said the transportation department generally recoups the cost of repairs by making a claim against the responsible party’s insurance company.

The department said in a statement Monday that the driver of the truck that struck the overpass was working for Kelly Inc., doing business as A-1 Lawn and Landscaping. The driver received citations for “unsafe conditions forbidden” and “not wearing corrective lenses."

The two citations are not criminal and have a combined fee of $450, the statement said.