The state’s transportation department is on track to help fix what’s often called the worst road in Kenai. That’s after the city council gave administrators permission to work with the state on the project.
The more-than-50-year-old road branches off from the Kenai Spur Highway and ends at Wildwood Correctional Complex in North Kenai. Its pothole-addled pavement has long plagued the city. And it’s the subject of jurisdictional overlap. The road is owned by the city, sits on land owned by the Kenai Native Association and is heavily used by the State of Alaska.
So that’s raised the question: who should fix it? Under the proposed agreement, it’ll be a split, between the city and the state.
The state will be in charge of planning, designing and constructing improvements to drainage, intersections, roadside hardware and utilities along the roughly half-mile stretch of road between the highway and the prison complex. Once the state’s work is mostly done, the city will take over maintenance and upkeep.
Shannon McCarthy is a spokesperson with the transportation department. She described the state’s share of the work as a “shave and pave” effort – crews will pulverise the road’s existing surface, use the crushed asphalt as a base layer and then put two new inches of pavement over that base. And she says the state knows how important the road is.
“Alaska DOT&PF recognizes that Wildwood is an important road to both the state correctional center and the neighborhood it passes through. Restoring the driving surface is an important and appropriate contribution to ensuring the road continues to serve the state facility while reducing the burden on the local government.”
The city has ballparked the costs for repairs at $1.2 million and has recently taken steps toward resolution. In 2023, the city asked the state to help cover the costs. And last year, the city acquired the property interests from the Kenai Native Association.
The state will fold work into an existing project it’s doing in the area – the second phase of planned fixes to the Kenai Spur Highway. Eubank says that work is planned for the next two summers. But he’s unclear when exactly Wildwood Drive would be repaved.
Still, multiple council members celebrated the tentative agreement as a step in the right direction.
“I appreciate that we were able to come to a cooperative agreement with the Department of Transportation to get this project finally on the calendar and get it done,” said council member Bridget Grieme. “It is a benefit for Kenai residents, but also our partner law enforcement agencies.”
As of Friday, the agreement had not yet been signed.
