BETHEL, Alaska (AP) - Officials of a small village in western Alaska said the state’s project to realign a runway and a parallel road could run into problems when ice and snow melt in the spring.
The Aniak Airport is undergoing a runway construction project to meet federal aviation requirements, and it includes modifying a road and replacing a culvert, Alaska’s Energy Desk reported this week.
Aniak city manager Kevin Toothacker said the runway next to the Kuskokwin River is in danger of flooding when ice jams form during the spring melt. With a gate being added to the culvert and the grade of the modified road, water could crest over it and compromise the road, he said.
“They say we’re 20 years away from it being eroded, but anyone who lives here knows we’re one bad breakup away and stuff could get compromised,” Toothacker said.
The state conducted an environmental assessment for the project, and it has listened to the community’s complaints, said Shannon McCarthy, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation.
“When we do an environmental assessment we have to take all those things into account, and we have to take a look at we know where the water is drained to how to make sure that anything that we do doesn’t impact it both after construction and during construction,” McCarthy said.
The new culvert is bigger and the gate should prevent such a washout, McCarthy said.
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Information from: KYUK-AM, http://www.kyuk.org
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