Senate committee axes West Susitna access project in state bond bill, but Houston Middle School still included

The Senate Transportation Committee sent Senate Bill 74, the governor’s $356.4 million general obligation bond bill, out of committee Tuesday, March 23 after stripping money for West Susitna access road in Mat-Su along with a few other projects.

However, $9 million for Houston Middle School reconstruction remains in the bill. It is the largest amount funded for the 12 school projects named in the bill.

The $8.5 million proposed for the West Susitna project in the bonds, which must be approved by voters, would not have built the road but would have provided money for planning and required environmental studies, according to Alan Wietzner, executive director of the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the state’s development finance corporation, or AIDEA.

AIDEA is leading the project with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough as a partner in coordinating communication with local residents.

Even though the project was deleted from SB 74 it’s likely that other money can be found in a large federal infrastructure program now being discussed in Congress.

Another project axed by the committee was the Arctic Strategic Transportation and Resource Project, or ASTAR, a network of mostly small infrastructure projects on the North Slope, for which $2.1 million was proposed in SB 74. These and several other deletions will make room for other projects to be added, if the bill moves forward.

Another project was questioned but survived in the bill is $13.2 million proposed for a Fairbanks-Seward multi-use recreation trail. This is still in early conceptual planning with the Anchorage-Seward segment furthest along in planning along the historic Johnson Pass trail on the Kenai Peninsula, with a proposed tie-in with the Turnagain Trail along Turnagain Arm.

Another project that was questioned, but survived in the bil, is $13.2 million for a Fairbanks-Seward multi-use recreation trail. This is still in early conceptual planning and the Anchorage-Seward segment is furthest along the historic Johnson Pass trail south of Anchorage.

Several projects were deleted from the bill because there was only partial funding. Voters expect to see a finished project when they vote to approve the debt, several members of the Senate committee said.

Other changes in the bill included in a reference to $25 million for school major maintenance grants along a major maintenance priority list maintained by the Department of Education and Early Development. This was changed to specific school projects listed, including the Houston Middle School.

A number of airport projects was also deleted because they were on the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ schedule for construction with federal money. It was thought that bond bill funding could have accelerated them by providing a required state match early, but state transportation officials told the committee this isn’t the case – the projects will still be repaired according to the schedule.

There was some criticism in the committee that the project list appeared to be hastily drawn up. With one airport major repair project in the bill, at Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow) for $4.85 million, a call was made to Utqiagvik to check the status and there was no one who knew about a project.

On another highway project, $770,000 for a Parks Highway Little Goldstream Creek bridge upgrade, a call to Fairbanks found that the work has already been completed, staff to the Senate committee told senators.

The committee also decided to delete the reference to a state municipal harbor grant list in the bill but to add specific harbor projects including at Unalaska, Sand Point, Homer, Sitka and Juneau.

University of Alaska projects are still in SB 74, including $18.6 million for renovation of plumbing at Bartlett and Moore dormitories at University of Alaska Fairbanks and $428,000 for a combined heat and power project at the University of Alaska Anchorage’s ConocoPhillips science building. There is also $10.9 million for energy upgrades at several aging UAA buildings.