By Ken SmithTurnagain Times
By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
The Whittier Tunnel for the first time since it opened to vehicle traffic in 2000 will expand its hours of winter operation.
Whittier residents have long petitioned for the longer openings in winter to allow for more commuting time out of town, specifically to Anchorage. And now they’ve got it with more than six hours being added to the daily winter hours.
In past years, the summer schedule would revert back to winter hours on Oct. 1, with tunnel hours open for 9.75 hours per day. But this year the hours will be expanded to 16 hours per day, with the first opening out of Whittier at 7 a.m. and the last tunnel out of Bear Valley opening at 10:30 p.m. and the last vehicle allowed to enter at 10:45 p.m..
“At 11 p.m. we will lock down the facility,” said Gordon Burton Tunnel Facilities Manager.
Unlike the summer operation, Burton said the winter schedule will not have closures for maintenance unless the temperature falls below 32 degrees at which time they will apply the freezing schedule, typically delaying the next opening for about five minutes.
“In those five minutes we allow all traffic in then close the door behind them and open the door in front of them,” Burton said. “Essentially what we try to do is bottle the heat inside the tunnel.”
The expanded tunnel hours this winter was the result of Rep. Mike Hawker and Whittier Mayor Lester Lunceford, who petitioned the state to allocate money from the cruise ship tax to fund expanded hours at the tunnel. And the State legislature and Governor did so in this year’s budget, setting aside $500,000.
The total budget to operate the tunnel is now $4.5 million although state funding for the expanded winter hours is a one-time allocation and will have to be voted on by the legislature again next year.
Burton said the contractor that runs the tunnel, VMS Inc. based in Virginia, normally earns about $260,00 per month during the five month period from May through September compared to only $30,000 per month during the remaining seven months of the year during winter.
“I doubt it can make a profit in the wintertime,” said Burton. “But technically we’re not allowed to make a profit. What we’re allowed to do is generate revenue to cover the operation costs. But in the case of the winter, we can not generate enough revenue to meet operating costs, it will have to be subsidized.”
In the summer operation schedule, the tunnel does meet its operating costs, Burton said, between May through September.
The overall budget for the tunnel is funded by $2 million from revenue generated by the tunnel and another $2 million from the Federal STIP, a state infrastructure program.
To accommodate the expanded winter hours, the Tunnel will maintain between 30-34 employees. Tunnel entrance fees will remain the same with passenger vehicles paying $12 roundtrip, tour buses paying $125 and oversized vehicles $300.