State, Borough and cities plans for snow plowing and removal

While winter has not officially begun, Alaskans across the Mat Su Borough have been struggling with snow for weeks. November was a record-setting month for snow, and the early prediction has been that Alaska is set for a wallop this winter. So, how prepared are the cities and Borough for further snow, which will inevitably come to the areas.

Alaska’s transportation system lies within one of the most extreme and challenging environments on the planet, and with the potential for extremes with temperatures ranging from 100F to -80F, snowfalls as high as 974 inches of snow at Thompson Pass, and 80% of the State is under laid by ice-rich permafrost, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF), oversees maintenance activities, which are conducted in a geographically diverse climate ranging from maritime to arctic.

Maintenance and Operations forces are organized geographically within three regions-Southcoast, Central, and Northern, each with their own regional M&O managers, one in Anchorage (Central Region), Fairbanks (Northern Region), and Juneau (Southcoast Region). They supervise the maintenance activities of their regions and report to their respective regional directors.

Maintenance and operation responsibilities include all the activities to keep Alaska’s highways, bridges, airports, buildings and harbors in good condition and safe for the traveling public. In the winter, these include highway and airport anti-icing and deicing, snowplowing, snow hauling, avalanche control and mitigation. It also includes responding to all emergency/weather related situations such as snow and ice removal, fallen trees, and roadway/airport flooding.

However, the state’s plowing and maintenance only extends to certain areas here in the Mat-Su Borough. For example, the DOT&PF serves the Glenn Highway, Parks Highway, and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, which are Priority One Roads, meaning they are considered high-volume, high-speed highways, expressways, or minor highways. Also considered Priority One are all safety corridors and other major urban and community routes. According to the DOT&PF website, it may take up to 12 hours to clear after a winter storm.

There are a total of 5 Priority levels for the State when it comes to road maintenance, which can easily be found on the DOT&PF website. It is all common for specific segments of different roads to have different levels of priority. For example, approximately 17 miles of the Parks Highway is a Priority 1 until it reaches Big Lake Road, where it becomes a Priority 2, with lesser traffic volume and speeds, and it may take up to 18 hours to clear after a winter storm.

When the areas are beyond the reach of the state, the responsibility of plowing and maintenance falls to the cities and the Borough, and the job of clearing the roads becomes much more difficult with miles and miles of arterials and side roads to attend to.

“Winter road maintenance has become more challenging over the past few years. There are a number of reasons and the majority of those are outside influences, specifically post-COVID supply chain issues, the availability and cost of supplies and equipment, and staffing, to name a few,” says Mat Su Borough Manager, Mike Brown.

Brown says that the Borough’s model for road maintenance is different than the State DOT&PF and surrounding cities, and that outside influences affect each organization in slightly different ways.

He also says that despite perceptions to the contrary, the Borough handled the significant weather events last year with success. He is referring to the windstorm in January and the later snow event last December, and is confident in the Boroughs ability to handle any upcoming weather challenges.

“I would submit we successfully navigated two extreme weather events in January 2022 and again in December 2022. Recent snowfall this month certainly had its challenges, but again I believe our contract response was executed well overall.”

As to whether the Borough has funding to ensure

“The Borough utilizes six companies that maintain our 16 road service areas. Our contracts with those companies have equipment requirements and specifications to ensure for adequate services,.”

“We regularly re-bid these contracts, so adjustments to funding and contract provisions occur regularly, and tax rates to support those contracts are adjusted accordingly.”

In Wasilla, Eric Schaal, Director of Public Works, says that the city has a fully staffed Roads Division and is prepared to keep the roadways clear for the safety and convenience of the residents, businesses, and visitors.

“The six person Roads Division is supported by a local contractor to effectively respond to extreme weather events. The City is also prepared to address the potential for above average snowfall with additional equipment and snow storage areas,” says Schaal, adding, “Roads crews have a stockpile of traction sand and they spent the fall preparing equipment for deployment.”

Schaal says that the City of Wasilla has also joined the Mat-Su Borough in utilizing the MSB Problem Reporter system to receive and respond to reports of road issues.

Last year, during the three days of snow in which most areas received three feet of snow, give or take, the newly elected Mayor of Houston, Carter Cole, was faced with trying to dig out with the city with only two plows. He made the call to use civilian snow plow removers to alleviate the buildup of snow. Since then, the city council has been making proactive changes on the recommendation of Mayor Cole in regards to the Public Works Department, which oversees snow removal and road maintenance.

“We have three new PW employees, a new grader, a new plow truck, and a new sand storage building. Each one of these has added to the response time and reduced the amount of time to clear Houston's road system and make it safe to drive on,” says Melissa Sonnek, the PWD clerk.

She says there are more changes planned to help in the future, but the acquisition of equipment has made the biggest difference.

“As far as record snowfall, we are in much better shape to deal with it this year than ever before. Currently we see no need for outside contractual labor because of the changes the City Council made last year.”

Of course, like other areas, the City of Houston worries about the budget for 2024, and how that could impact filling further needs in many areas, including road maintenance and plows.

“There are no budget issues yet, but we are only part way through the year, so we will have to wait and see. But as long as it stays like a predictable year, we should make it through okay with the current budget. But time will tell if we need to do anything more,” says Sonnek.

Long term plans for Houston is a plan for improved storage for the equipment Houston does have, making it the #2 priority on their Capital Improvement Plan is the combination new Fire and Public Works facility, which would make a huge difference in keeping the equipment stored properly.

Of course, there are a few things that residents could do to help, especially during the large snowfall events that occur.

“The first is, please do not push snow from private property into the public right-of-way. And maybe most importantly, the assistance of neighbors to one another can have a significant impact, especially in situations where individuals may struggle to manage snow accumulation in their driveways due to heavy snowfall or drifts,” suggest Brown, but echoed by Mayor Cole, who says that vehicles blocking the right-of-way are often the biggest challenges for the plows, and that while the plows try their best, berms are going to be left as the roads are cleared.

For more information about the Winter Road maintenance provided by the State, please visit www.dot.alaska.gov/stwdmno/wintermap/

To report road issues using the Mat-Su Problem Reporter, visit www.matsugov.us