West Susitna road may be first in state to qualify for President Trump’s new accelerated permitting

The planned West Susitna Access Project, a 78.5-mile industrial-use road, may be the first Alaska project to qualify for accelerated federal permitting under President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful” bill, now signed into law by the president.

The Alaska Industrial Development Authority, or AIDEA, applied last week for a federal permit to build the road. The new federal law requires that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers develop an Environmental Impact Statement and a Record of Decision for the road within a year.

Under previous law an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, could take years.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has asked President Trump to approve the road under the accelerated permitting procedure under the new federal law.

The road project, which is being led by AIDEA, the state’s development finance corporation, is planned to be built into the western Matanuska Susitna Borough into large areas of the western part of the borough that lack surface access.

Companies are exploring gold and antimony discoveries west of Skwentna, near the western terminus of the planned road. While AIDEA is leading the development and permitting for the road no road construction is likely to occur until the minerals companies now exploring sign contracts with the authority to use the road.

The companies will pledge tolls for using the road to pay for construction and operation. This is unlikely to happen until exploration is further along and companies are developing a mine, which will likely take several more years. The road is now planned mainly for industrial use but AIDEA has also said that public use will be allowed.

On its east end the road will connect with a planned state-built highway that will cross the Susitna River on a new bridge to connect with existing Mat-Su roads a few miles further east. The bridge and highway to Alexander Creek will be built with federal funds.

The route for AIDEA’s road extending west will traverse the northern side of the Skwentna River before crossing to the southern side, ending at the Whiskey Bravo airstrip, AIDEA said.

The industrial access road will begin approximately 1.4 miles west of Alexander Creek on the west side of the Susitna River. and extend to the Whiskey Bravo airstrip and mineral exploration camp to where NovaMinerals, an Australia-based minerals company, is basing its mineral exploration.

In the same region another company, Flatlands Energy, is exploring coal deposits and also has proposed a coal-fired power plant to use the coal with its power transmitted 60 miles to Chugach Electric Association’s Beluga power plant for a connection to the “railbelt” Southcentral-Interior Alaska power grid.

At the eastern end of AIDEA’s road the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, or DOTPF, is planning several miles of federally-funded public road from existing Mat-Su roads a few miles further east. The DOTPF project includes a bridge across the Susitna River, also paid for with federal funds.

AIDEA is also working on another resource development road project in northern Interior Alaska, the Ambler Access Project. This is a planned 211-mile access road from the Dalton Highway, in Interior Alaska, to the Ambler Mining District in Northwest Alaska east of Kotzebue.

This road has long been planned and has become controversial with opposition by some Alaska Native communities along the route of the road, although some communities also support the road.

AIDEA has done the route planning and led the permitting for the road but former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland rejected permits for its construction. President Trump’s new Big Beautiful law reversed Haaland’s action, and the state authority can now proceed with further planning and engineering.

However, mining companies South 32 and Trilogy metals have not yet announced plans to resume exploration of in the region. Just like the West Susitna road, no actual construction is likely until mining companies working in the Ambler region sign contracts to use the road.