Emergency services have been restored to Beach Road, bringing residents one step closer to returning to homes.
Haines Borough interim manager Alekka Fullerton announced the change at a May 25 assembly meeting. She said recent improvements had brought the temporary access road installed in January to a point where ambulances and fire trucks could cross.
“Gravel was applied to Beach Road and the temporary access had been smoothed out. That project has allowed (the Haines Volunteer Fire Department) to test out the road,” Fullerton said at the assembly meeting. “They took tanker number five, which is the heaviest tanker, and were successfully able to go out the road, and so they have indicated to us that both the ambulance and fire truck will be responding to emergencies out on Beach Road, as will the Haines Police Department.”
Geologic stability concerns, lack of power and limited road access have been the primary obstacles for residents who wish to return home. Houses in the neighborhood have been without road access and power since a Dec. 2 landslide tore through the neighborhood, destroying several homes and killing two people.
At previous meetings, AP&T representatives had said emergency response was a prerequisite for restoring power, even on a temporary basis. Now that the borough has said it will respond to emergencies, the company is weighing its options.
“That’s being reviewed and a decision will be made in that regard when I return (to Haines this week),” said AP&T Haines power operations manager Lance Caldwell. “We may still want to wait for the next (geotechnical stability) study to be completed. Not sure just yet.”
Power is the last thing that stands between some residents and a return to their homes, according to Beach Road task force member and neighborhood resident Todd Winkel.
“(The road’s) a lot better now,” Winkel said. “But nothing’s changed as far as residents living there. Power is the real thing.”
In a May 30 email to Beach Road residents, Caldwell said there are lingering concerns that need to be addressed before AP&T moves forward with power restoration.
“One being the sign in front of the road still stating the area is unstable and a danger area. Will this be removed or replaced with something else? The other, the next (geotechnical stability) study timeline. How soon is it scheduled to be done?” Caldwell said, adding he plans to meet with the borough this week to discuss the issues.
The borough is currently asking the public to stay out of the Beach Road neighborhood. It has ordered a new sign to be posted at the entrance to the neighborhood that reads, “Caution. Landslide area. Temporary one-lane road. Motorized access open for Beach Road residents and essential service providers only.”
This winter, the state contracted with a geotechnical consulting firm Landslide Technologies to study the stability of the Beach Road neighborhood to inform decisions about short-term and long-term access. A second round of the study is scheduled to begin in June.
Until last month, it had appeared as though residents would have to wait until the stability study was completed in December for power and road access to be restored. Waiting for the stability assessment would have meant no electricity on Beach Road until at least summer 2022.
On May 11, the assembly approved an expedited plan for restoring power with an estimated timeline of six weeks. The borough, with assistance from local construction experts, would smooth the existing temporary access road surface to give residents better access. At the same time, engineering firm proHNS would come up with two debris-removal plans to dig down to the original road—an option involving side casting, in which material is placed to the side of the excavation site, and one in which the material is hauled out.
Fullerton said in a May 27 interview that she expects the plans from proHNS soon.