The end of the road in Nikiski might get a little longer.
A new task force wants input on whether the Kenai Peninsula Borough should extend the North Road beyond its most recent extension, further connecting drivers to remote areas of the northern part of the peninsula that today are only accessible via all-terrain vehicle.
The borough finished the most recent extension in 2021 — an eight-mile long, 18-feet-wide gravel stretch that spans Captain Cook State Park up to Otter Creek. Before that, drivers could only access the 400-or-so parcels in the Gray Cliff subdivision via all-terrain vehicle.
The borough created a North Road Extension Advisory Task Force late last year to talk about maintaining and further developing the extension.
Joseph Ross, a member of the advisory task force and a property owner in Gray Cliff, said he and other property owners were skeptical about the road-building plan at first. Part of the appeal of Gray Cliff was its remoteness.
But he said he has since come around.
“I know other people that were not in favor of it in the beginning, that now that it’s in are really enjoying it, using it and are glad it’s there," he said. "But there's still some people that are on the new road system that don’t want it to go any further because they think it’ll bring crime to the area.”
Ross said the task force is still considering how far an extension should go. Members of the task force talked about extending the road an additional 10 miles up to Moose Point. Ross estimates there are another 400 private parcels or so there, for a host of purposes.
"You've got commercial fishermen, you've got people who own cabins out there, people who recreate out there," he said. "Snow machine riding, hiking, hunting, sport fishing, wildlife viewing ... There’s a lot of different people that come out there.”
He said funding for a new extension would likely come from the feds.
Jesse Bjorkman is also on the new task force and is a member of the borough assembly, representing Nikiski.
He's asking constituents to fill out an online survey about what they envision for the future of the North Road Extension. He said it’s important for the task force to learn about what stakeholders want before making any more moves.
“There seems to be more support for the road than against the road, from what I’ve heard," Bjorkman said. "But this survey is an opportunity for the public to engage to make sure the North Road Extension Task Force, as well as the borough assembly, are correct in the information we’re hearing from our constituents.”
You can find the survey here.
In the meantime, the borough is now putting the final touches on the current extension. Once it's capped the road, Ross said, it will be turned over to the Kenai Peninsula Borough Road Service Area for maintenance.
