Anton Anderson memorial Tunnel Facilities Manager Gordon Burton says that the Whittier side control door that failed just before Halloween, has been fixed.
“It jumped its track,“ Burton said. “The bolts anchoring the track to the tunnel roof were intact, but the door contractor had “beefed it up a bit, and I would expect that this is the end of the problem.”
Burton said they were inspecting the control door at the opposite end of the tunnel to see if the failure was a result of systemic problems and that it’s still to be determined just who will pay for the repairs.
Two months ago the Girdwood Board of Supervisors voted to approve of making Olympic Mountain Loop a two-way road. The decision was made in conjunction with municipal traffic, safety and engineering. The municipality conducted an audit and found that half the motorists were going up and half coming down the road. Following the audit the decision was made to open the road to two-way traffic, said Nick Danger GBOS Roads Manager. The road had been made a one-way entrance starting in mid-90s, prior to that time it was always a two-way street. Stop signs have been placed at the bottom of both entrances. Olympic Mountain Loop Road is the main entrance to the Sitzmark and other local businesses and condos. It is also very busy during the ski season as the main road to parking areas for Chairs 1 and 3 at the base of the mountain.
The state Dept. of Transportation is removing and replacing portions of two culverts at Kern Creek at mile 86. Sections of the old culverts were deteriorating and causing settling of the road, said Alan Drake, DOT project manager. The two culverts are 10-feet in diameter, and once they’re put back in and back-filled, temporary pavement will be put in for the winter. Construction began around Halloween and will continue until Nov. 26. Until that time expect delays and one-lane traffic, seven days a week 24 hours a day. Permanent paving will be done in late May and take about a day to complete. More culverts may be replaced in the future. Time and the saltwater environment along Seward Highway have caused deterioration of these and other culverts. The two currently being replaced were installed just after the 1964 Earthquake when the DOT rebuilt the section of road between Girdwood and Ingram Creek. The total cost of the project is $772,000.
Following four previous public presentations to the community, Chugach Electric Association’s proposal for a conditional use permit to upgrade and expand the substation in Old Girdwood still ran into strong opposition at this month’s Land Use Committee and Girdwood Board of Supervisors meetings.
Despite compromises from the original plan presented to GBOS in September, residents overwhelmingly voted against making a recommendation to the Board to approve Chugach’s request.
At the LUC meeting on November 10, Dora Gropp, Project Manager for Chugach Electric Association in Anchorage revealed a new plan to shrink the footprint of the proposed construction changes to four-and-a-half lots compared to the six lots originally included in their request for a conditional land use permit. The new design would have allowed for more landscaping on all sides, and one full lot left undeveloped at the back of the property. The changes noted would combat light pollution by providing a low-level continuous security light and a secondary bright light system for work being conducted at the substation in the evening.
Residents have expressed concerns over the noise, which would be only compounded by the eventual addition of a second transformer by suggesting noise dampening material in the walls. The design was not, however, able to address concerns about the need for a 10 to 14 foot wall in the first place, or the new 70-foot communications tower which would replace the existing 30-foot tower.
Despite these compromises, residents still criticized the location for the substation as inappropriate for a light commercial and residential area given the size and scope of CEA’s future plans.
Public comment on the matter at both meetings revolved around concerns over appearance, and the overwhelmingly inappropriate placement in the substation’s current locations and nearly unanimously urged the boards to vote against recommending the permitting.
Ultimately, the motion to approve a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors failed 52-7 and this past Monday’s motion for GBOS to draft a letter of non-objection to the Assembly failed 2-2. Provided the permit doesn’t clear Planning and Zoning on the Municipal level, the Board anticipates the formation of a work group to work with CAE to identify and secure possible land to relocate the substation.