OPINION: Alaska highway safety should trump politics

It’s clear that Gov. Mike Dunleavy supports Kinross/Contango’s development of a gold mine at Tetlin and the transport of the raw ore to the Fort Knox mill north of Fairbanks using the public highway system. It’s also a fact that the Permanent Fund Division has invested in Contango, meaning the State of Alaska has a vested interest in the gold mine. To help ensure the success of the project, Dunleavy has directed the Department of Transportation (AKDOT) to assist Kinross in developing and implementing a transportation plan, so that the 165,000-pound ore trucks will have unimpeded use of the highway system from Tok through Fairbanks to Fort Knox. To implement that plan, AKDOT will use all the limited deficient bridge money available to replace five bridges that are substandard and unsafe for heavy commercial traffic but safe for existing traffic, construct a few passing lanes in an attempt to alleviate the congestion that will occur on the highway, ignore mandated environmental impact studies, and route the trucks through the middle of Fairbanks.

In all these efforts to assist Kinross, what is missing is a serious review or consideration of safety and the dangers imposed on the rest of the traffic by this dramatic increase of long heavy trucks operating 24/7/365, even though the public outcry to date has mainly been focused on safety. While the mission of the AKDOT is “Keep Alaska moving through service and infrastructure,” you’ll notice there is no mention of safety in their mission statement.

However, the AKDOT has two problems with pursuing this strategy. First, the highway is part of the federal interstate highway system, and federal rules and programs apply which put a great emphasis and requirements for safety in program development and operation. The AKDOT is obligated to follow the provisions of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Highway Safety Improvement Program and other mandated programs, yet there is scant evidence that they are complying with the programs or rules. The five bridges being replaced have numerous safety violations in the latest audit by the FHWA, yet the state plans to allow unrestricted use of the existing bridges during construction. The federal programs also mandate that future planning and construction be considered in advance of traffic growth, and highways are to be operated to maintain safety for the traveling public.

Second, we concerned residents may not have any influence on the governor or his directive to the AKDOT ignoring safety, but we can have a direct impact and influence on the engineers employed by the state. A licensed professional engineer in Alaska is bound by a code of conduct. The licensing board which oversees and governs the actions of engineers has a vision and mission statement that reads, in part: “to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public.” Failure to follow that mission can result in sanction or loss of license. AKDOT Commissioner Ryan Anderson is a licensed PE, as are other engineers in the department. They are obligated to safeguard the traveling public first and stop or delay the conversion of our highways into industrial haul roads for the mining industry until the infrastructure is improved and safe for all travel. If they don’t, we the public can hold them and their licenses accountable. We hope they understand that.

Bill Ward is a 50-year Alaska resident and former construction contractor, as well as an activist with Advocates for Safe Alaska Highways. He lives in Delta Junction.

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