Road Construction - Alaksa- 2014 Summer

Back to Top for those getting ready to leave....

".....But that will have some negative effect on the summer economy of Nenana and the barge lines operating out of there."

Yep.....I suspect YBL and the offshoots won't be happy.

"Minto is not known for being too friendly to outsiders, lots of good people live there, but much resentment toward Fairbanks hunters and fisherman driving out there to harvest game......"

Even if you explain you're from Los Anchorage and more or less stopping there because you're lost :) they're still not too friendly. :)

".... even at aircraft speeds, seems to go on forever, at times..."

At PA12 speeds, everything seems to go on forever. :R

Personally, I think the State of Alaska (as a government body and as a collection of people) needs to plan on what they'll do when (moreso than if) the oil money runs out. My personal preference would be that not a single mile of new road is built in Alaska, but regardless of that, I think the day is coming when Alaska will have to watch it's pennies much more carefully and won't be able to contemplate new roads.

semi-Rant over.

Tee Jay:

Thanks for posting the link. It will help us a great deal in planning our trip up north this summer.

Bob

Lots of good information, but not a lot can be done to avoid the construction areas though. Just plan for a bit of extra time.

The part that really caught my attention was the building of some new road way. I can't remember the last time Alaska built any new roads. The report says:

"By the end of the summer, Alaska should have 15 miles of new road. The pioneer-level Tanana Road will extend the end of the Elliott Highway to the south bank of the Yukon River across from Tanana and provide ice road access to the community."

This is going to extend the gravel road from "they say Manley Hot Springs" but more than likely the road will take off from the old mining camp of Tofty, which you get to by going north on a mining road before you get into Manley Hot Springs.

I have, during the years we lived in the village of Tanana, made dog team trips from Tanana over the winter trail to Manley Hot Springs. In the spring time this is a fun week long round trip to make. Lots of wildlife out and about, having to watch for overflow on the creeks and lakes, camping out at night, surrounded by your dog team. (so nothing can sneak up on you while you sleep, LOL)

The extension of this road is going to make for some interesting changes, hopefully for the good. It will be easier and cheaper to truck fuel to Tanana, than using the current method of barging fuel down the shallow Tanana River out of Nenana. With an ice road across the Yukon, they will be able to drive the fuel trucks to the village and visa versa for residents wanting to drive to Fairbanks. But that will have some negative effect on the summer economy of Nenana and the barge lines operating out of there. While it is kept open year around, this change will increase the vehicle traffic on the Elliott. Currently the winter traffic consists of residents of Manley and the village of Minto, going back and forth into Fairbanks. Manley is an old mining camp type place, lots of old gold mining was done in the area, especially around the town of Eureka (did actually have a post office here). Minto is a relocated village, that was south on the banks of the Tanana River, where it flooded every spring. So the government relocated it to it's current location just off the Elliott Hwy. Minto is not known for being too friendly to outsiders, lots of good people live there, but much resentment toward Fairbanks hunters and fisherman driving out there to harvest game. I have never had any bad experiences there but I am a known person to many of the residents.

At one time, back when the oil pipeline money was flowing into the state coffers, in large amounts, it was considered a possible route to build a railroad and service road alongside, to Nome. That would have given the Interior of Western Alaska a dependable and low cost means of transportation of goods and services. But there was a lot of opposition as you can well imagine to the idea and it was never followed up on. I can just imagine the number of RVers from this forum group that would be lined up to drive the service road to Nome and back. There are sure some/many adventuresome folks on this forum that are just looking for a new route to drive and set up camps at night. That would be a fun trip to thing about. I have flown from Fairbanks to Nome in my own aircraft and it is a beautiful part of the world, a part that even at aircraft speeds, seems to go on forever, at times.