The state Department of Transportation will hold public meetings in Haines and Klukwan Oct. 28 on the draft revised environmental assessment of Haines Highway improvements between 3.5 and 25.3 Mile.
A public workshop starts 10 a.m. in Klukwan’s ANS Hall. A public workshop and public hearing will be held at Haines High School. The workshop starts 5:30 p.m. The hearing will begin one hour later.
The draft revised document is available at the Haines public library and at DOT’s website. Public comments are due Nov. 6.
The planning document went back to the drawing board in 2013 after a barrage of criticism that the project would unnecessarily damage fish and bald eagle habitat. The plan, which included filling 24 acres of wetlands, drew opposition from agencies like the National Marine Fisheries Service and individuals including former state Rep. Bill Thomas.
Lynn Canal Conservation faulted the plan for not proposing a reduced speed limit through sections of the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve and also criticized construction plans for using rocks called “rip-rap” along roadsides instead of engineered logjams that have proved to work better as fish habitat.
The federal fisheries service last November approved changes to the plan that that maintain the road’s existing curvature in several sections and reduce the amount of passing zones to preserve fisheries habitat.
The revised design plans call for 22.2 acres to be filled.
DOT spokesperson Jeremy Woodrow said fill will still be used in some areas but the project’s mitigation efforts will result in a net gain of one mile of new or repaired fish habitat.
“The end result is actually an improved environment,” Woodrow said.
Woodrow said that would be accomplished through replacement of culverts, creation of woody debris areas upstream of large rocks, and construction of new and improved streams.
Resident Nancy Berland said she still has concerns about the project, including its plan to take down 85 or more eagle-perching trees, including 18 percent of the ones in the eagle preserve’s critical habitat area.
The state has cut in half its plans to use rip-rap, but planners haven’t gone far enough in accommodating fish and eagle habitat that’s critical to the economics of the area.
Laws governing federal highway construction and the eagle preserve mandate the agency explore all possible alternatives to filling wetlands, but it hasn’t, Berland said. The revised plan calls for “design exceptions” in two areas close to town that would reduce speeds on the road, but not in other areas of fish habitat, she said.
“They can employ design exceptions to protect habitat, but they’re kind of digging their heels in,” Berland said. “This is a special area. The (revised document) is a better take-it-or-leave-it than they offered us in 2013, but it’s still a take-it-or-leave-it.”
Comments can be sent via email to [email protected] or by mail to Jim Scholl, project environmental coordinator, DOT&PF, P.O. Box 112506, Juneau, AK 99811-2506.