The state’s Haines Highway construction project will be delayed if the Alaska Legislature doesn’t pass a capital budget.
The first phase of the highway construction project that will repave and widen the road from 3 Mile to 12 Mile was scheduled to go out to bid by the end of July, said Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Aurah Landau.
“(ADOT is) hoping to get that project out for bid this summer and hoping to start construction this fall,” Landau said. “We’ll have to put off doing any of that work until a capital spending plan is passed.”
The legislature must pass the capital budget for the state to secure the $1.2 billion in matching federal grant funding that will help pay for ADOT construction projects across the state.
After two special sessions, the legislature passed an operating budget in late June to avoid a government shutdown.
Gov. Bill Walker said he’ll place the legislature on call for another special session when its members compromise on a capital budget, according to a press release.
“I have been assured, however, that legislators will reach a compromise in time to pass a capital budget before July 31,” Walker said. “Once a deal is reached, I will immediately call them back into session.”
Even if the legislature passes the capital budget before July 31, Landau said ADOT can’t predict a timeline for the Haines Highway project going out to bid because contractors are also affected by the delay.
“There are a lot of steps we have to go through procedurally to get these projects rolling and we’re not the only players in the game,” Landau said.
“We can’t say what other entities’ timelines are, what they’re going to do.”
ADOT plans to bring the highway up to a 55 mph design standard consistent with the road from 25 Mile to the Canadian border by realigning, widening and straightening portions of the roadway, according to a project description.
Construction is projected to take six to eight years.