Alaska Department of Transportation

Last week, the state transportation department issued an open call for contractors to provide “Eminent Domain Appraisal Review Services” for an 11-mile section of the Seward Highway.

Motorists can expect to see water trucks and sweepers as the state's transportation department is at work.

The state transportation department says the road will remain closed until crews finish repair work.

Alaska’s four-year statewide transportation plan has received partial approval from federal agencies, with some exclusions. Most major Kenai Peninsula highway projects, including the Cooper Landing Bypass, haven’t been affected, but the state is still waiting to hear about outside funding that will affect the timeline of that project.

A Homer-based nonprofit that works with landowners and state agencies to protect land on the Kenai Peninsula recently completed mitigation efforts on the Cooper Landing Bypass project. The multi-step mitigation plan identified, assessed and protected areas of the Kenai River watershed that would otherwise be impacted by highway construction.

DOT Commissioner Ryan Anderson told senators the department is removing or changing expensive projects from the plan before the March 1 deadline from federal agencies. That list of changes isn't yet public.

The federal government rejected Alaska DOT's four-year statewide transportation plan, citing major and minor errors. The Cooper Landing bypass project isn't among them, but like all road projects in the state, could be jeopardized if DOT isn't able to get its plan approved.

After a public petition and borough assembly resolution, the Department of Transportation says it will scale back the use of salt brine on peninsula roads this winter.

Department of Transportation officials talked the Sterling safety corridor, Kenai Spur, Cooper Landing Bypass and more in a legislative town hall Thursday.

A petition with more than 4,000 signatures is calling on DOT to stop its use of salt brine on Kenai Peninsula roads. They say the brine is corrosive to vehicles and dangerous, but DOT officials say they're not considering removing the substance from roads entirely.