Officials say Knik Access is closing, really

Frontiersman editorial board

Our office has received a number of calls from residents with questions regarding the imminent closure of the Knik River Access site. In fact, one caller even accused us of being liars -- with fiery pants, no less, for printing that the access was scheduled to close Feb. 15. But this is not the first time the access closure has been delayed.

Department of Transportation officials announced their plan to close off-ramps at Knik River Access last month, but the ramps just south of the Palmer Hay Flats remained opened as of Wednesday.

DOT first announced the seasonal closure in January. The department started running newspaper advertisements in the Frontiersman announcing the closure on Feb. 1, the same day as the original closing date.

The date of the closure has been put off twice. The first time, it was rescheduled for Feb. 15, after a storm kept Valley-based DOT crews busy with snow removal. Now officials say new signage has yet to arrive but that the closure -- although unscheduled -- is still imminent.

"Once the signs are in our possession we will be able to sign the off-ramps properly so that people will not run into the barriers," said DOT spokesman Murph O'Brien. "We still intend to close it, and we're still trying to work something out for other locations for the airboat operators, but that's the direction we're heading in."

Several airboat operators use the river access during winter and were disappointed by the closure announcement. The closure was planned in conjunction with the United States Bureau of Land Management. BLM owns a property adjacent to the river access which has become a popular place for illegal target shooting and a dumping ground for old cars and other litter.

DOT's advertisements said Knik River Access would be open May 1 to Oct. 31, and closed Nov. 1 to April 30 each year.