KMXT 100.1 FM Public Radio in Kodiak, Alaska
The concept for improving Shelikof Street, one of the transportation projects funded in the state capital budget. Dowl HKM illustration
Last week, Gov. Sean Parnell approved funding for a number of Kodiak projects. Among them was construction of a pedestrian walkway between Pier 2, where cruise ships the Alaska state ferry Kennicott tie up, and downtown. Janet Buckingham, executive director for the Kodiak Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the current condition of Shelikof Street isn’t very safe or accommodating to cruise ship tourists and local residents that frequently use that road.
— (Pedestrian Walkway 1: :24 sec "Currently it’s a little tight … and beautification.")
The project still has some details to work out, but will likely go out to bid in 2012. The $1.6 million from the state will be enough to finance the completion of the project. Kodiak also received funding to build a walkway from Pier 2 along Rezanof Drive to the look out point at Dead Man’s Curve.
The dock in Anton Larsen Bay also got approved in the capital budget. That borough will receive $2 million to build a completely new dock. The Kodiak Island Borough originally bought the dock for one dollar from Hewitt Engineering. Borough Mayor Jerome Selby said the dock was used by the company during construction of the Terror Lake hydro-electric project and is long overdue to be replaced.
— (Pedestrian Walkway 2: :38 sec "It was never really designed … that way at all.")
Selby said the funding from the capital budget, paired with a grant from the Denali Commission, should be enough to expand the dock’s size and quality to meet demands of growing boat traffic.
— (Pedestrian Walkway 3: :24 sec "It’s used heavily for … dock for a lot of people.")
Selby said now that the funds to start the planning process are available, he expects a new dock within the next two years.
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