Knik bridge project prepares environmental impact statement

JOHN DAVIDSON/Frontiersman reporter

The Knik Arm bridge project enters its next phase this month as the Federal Highway Administration begins work on an environmental impact statement, officials announced last week.

Darryl Jordan, deputy executive director for the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority, said the EIS, budgeted at $18.2 million, is the next mandatory step in the process and will provide agencies and the public with current facts and reliable information on the project's potential impact on the environment.

"We expect [the EIS] to cost less than we've budgeted, if all goes well, but we've never been through this process," Jordan said. "There are unknown factors. For example, if there's a concern about beluga whale traffic, then we'd have to wait 'til the proper season to study beluga traffic in that area, and that could delay us."

The first phase in the EIS process is public scoping, during which the Knik Arm bridge authority asks various state and federal agencies, as well as the public, what they see as potential environmental problems with the project. This will produce a range of alternatives, Jordan said, and the authority is under statutory obligation to examine each reasonable alternative.

After hearing from agencies and the public, the authority will examine the concerns raised and pick an alternative, which will likely be sent out this summer.

Concerned agencies and the public will then critique the alternative plan and give recommendations. If all goes according to schedule, construction could begin as early as January 2006, Jordan said.

"They'll tell us if they agree or disagree with our alternatives and we'll look at their recommendations," Jordan said. "This could take up to six months because of mandated periods of time."

The Knik Arm bridge authority has selected HDR Alaska, an engineering and planning firm, as the lead contractor for the EIS. HDR is one of three contractors, along with URS and PND Engineering, that has managed fieldwork this year for the authority.

"It's reassuring to see the availability of talent in Alaska to undertake specialized work of this nature," Jordan said. "Furthermore, we were very pleased to have selected many of the same firms to continue to work during the EIS phase."

Three different consulting firms have projected the cost of three prototype bridges, Jordan said -- one steel design and two concrete designs. Costs range from $120 to $150 million for the bridges themselves, with another $170 million for the approaches on either side, Jordan said.

"Right now we have no EIS and we have no design, so we're estimating the total costs, with inflation, to be between $400 and $600 million," Jordan said. "But that's just a rough estimate at this point."

The Knik Arm project's financing for the construction phase remains dependent in part on passage of the federal transportation bill, currently before the House Transportation Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.

As a toll authority, the Knik Arm bridge authority expects to issue revenue bonds for a portion of the construction costs.

A kickoff meeting with the Knik Arm bridge authority, HDR Alaska and state and federal agencies is scheduled for Jan. 18.

Contact John Davidson at john.davidson@frontiersman.com.