Shannon McCarthy

  It’s Winnebago Time in the Central Kenai Peninsula, and the motorhomes and car campers are multiplying by the day. In an effort to head off any snarls with the normal summer traffic, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has had crews working 12-hours a day, and in some cases, around the clock.

One unscheduled project — replacing pavement and culverts on the North Road damaged by the November 7.1 Cook Inlet earthquake now has a projected completion date, according to DOT spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy.

  A fast break-up this year is causing further delays through the well-travelled Sterling Highway corridor south of Soldotna. Originally scheduled to be closed for a week, the detour — which forces drivers to take Kalifornsky Beach Road — will be extended a second week.

  Conditions on the only road on or off the Kenai Peninsula went from bad to worse in the last 24 hours. Berms on the side of the road in Turnagain Pass are reported to be up to six-feet tall, and avalanche danger is also growing.

DOT Spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy called conditions through Turnagain Pass “intense,” and as challenging as they get:

The lingering late-summer weather has allowed contractors to make good headway on Central Peninsula highway work this month, some of which was suspended during the height of RV Season.

“We’re having incredibly good weather for this additional work. A lot of projects were able to get underway," said DOT spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy in Anchorage.

"But it is real nice to get a jump on it and take advantage of the great weather while the traffic volumes are a little lower.”