Welcome to the
Ketchikan Gravina Island Access Project Website.
Project Update:
The ADOT&PF is
moving forward with the first phase of the Ketchikan
Gravina Island Access; construction of the Gravina
Island Highway. The Gravina Island Highway is a
design-build project and consists of a 3.2 mile
gravel roadway from the intersection of the Airport
Access Road with the Lewis Reef Road near the Ketchikan
International Airport on Gravina Island to an area
approaching the West Channel of Tongass Narrows.
The work includes the site grading, embankment,
small bridges over Government Creek and Gravina
Creek, drainage structures, and other improvements.
The Department has
selected Kiewit Pacific of Anchorage, Alaska as
the Design-Builder for this work. The total contract
amount for this phase of the development is $25,700,000.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL PROJECT
INFORMATION
Publication of the
final environmental document and federal approval
of the Record of Decision for the Ketchikan Gravina
Island Access Project was completed on September
15, 2004. The Alaska Department of Transportation
and Public Facilities (DOT&PF), in cooperation
with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA),
now proposes to start the final step toward its
goal of constructing access from Revillagigedo (Revilla)
Island to Gravina Island in Southeast Alaska [Vicinity
Map]. It is intended to provide a roadway link
from Ketchikan to Gravina Island across the Ralph
M. Bartholomew Veterans' Memorial Bridges over two
channels of Tongass Narrows, an active waterway
used by boating that ranges in size from recreational
craft to ocean-going vessels such as large cruise
ships. Pennock Island in the Narrows is also now
accessible.
The proposed Gravina
Island Highway begins as the Airport Access Road
at the Ketchikan International Airport parking lot
on Gravina Island and extends south around the end
of the present day runway and up the hill to an
intersection with Gravina Island Highway and Lewis
Reef Road (to be built in 2005 by the DOT&PF).
From there, the Gravina Island Highway proceeds
southeasterly to the West Channel bridge crossing
of Tongass Narrows. After crossing the channel,
the roadway traverses Pennock Island easterly to
the East Channel bridge, and lands within the US
Coast Guard (USCG) property on Revilla Island. Here,
the Highway turns northwest, cutting across the
steep hillside on its way down to a new intersection
with the South Tongass Highway. The total length
of this proposed new roadway is 7.0 miles, incorporating
almost 1.2 miles of bridge structures.
EXISTING
FACILITIES
The principal modes of transportation to Ketchikan
are airplane, including floatplane, and ship; no
“hard link” surface transportation is
available to or between Revilla and Gravina islands,
or to other communities in Alaska or Outside. Currently
the borough-operated ferry system provides the only
scheduled surface transportation to Gravina Island.
It services mostly foot traffic, but also carries
vehicles across Tongass Narrows directly to the
airport terminal. Regularly scheduled airline service
and ferry connections through the Alaska Marine
Highway System (AMHS) link Ketchikan to the State
and Lower 48.
PROJECT
PURPOSE AND NEED
There has been keen interest in building a bridge
access to Gravina Island for some time, not only
to access the airport, but also to develop the vast
land holdings of the borough. The Ketchikan Gateway
Borough, which is the planning authority for the
project area, has conducted or supported several
studies in past years that characterize the availability
and accessibility of developable land. More than
a dozen studies and plans supported by the borough
have been conducted since the 1981 study, all detailing
problems with land use and accessibility. The concerns
can be summarized as follows:
-
Lack of access to
borough lands on Gravina Island has made it difficult
for the borough to provide the land to adequately
meet the needs of its citizens for reasonable
growth and development.
-
The scarcity and
high cost of land on Revilla Island severely limits
opportunities for growth, development, and diversity
of industrial, commercial, residential, and recreational
pursuits.
Access to the airport is inconvenient and inefficient
for airport users and businesses. The airport ferry
operates 8 to 16 hours per day with departures every
15 to 30 minutes, depending on the season, a schedule
that requires travelers to consider the ferry schedule
when making plans to meet a flight at the airport.
The defined purpose
and need from the approved environmental document
for the proposed Ketchikan Gravina Island
Access is:
