Agency urges Alaskans to log-in, comment on multimodal weeklong series of virtual meetings
The state Department of Transportation will hold a series of virtual meetings this week to ask Alaskans for input on a 30-year transportation plan.
DOT Northern Region spokesperson Angelica Stabs says the agency is in the early stages of developing a statewide Long Range Transportation Plan.
“We would like to engage with the public on draft goals and objectives,” she said, “and then that will lead to strategy and policy decisions.”
DOT will conduct two daily one-hour focus group meetings, beginning Tuesday. The first session will begin at 11 a.m. each day, and the next at 2 p.m.
Stabs says each session will focus on a different mode of transportation.
“It's a multimodal plan, so we're looking at our transportation and infrastructure as a systemwide network,” she said.
Tuesday’s first meeting will be about rail transportation; the second will deal with rural airports and floatplane docks.
Wednesday’s first meeting will focus on integrating different nonmotorized kinds of transportation, including hiking and bicycling. The second session will concern transit systems.
Thursday’s sessions will be about rural ports and barge landings and winter roads and trails.
Friday’s first meeting will deal with connectivity between rural communities and so-called frontier access roads to help facilitate that connectivity. The second session will involve the state’s international airports.
“ So we're covering a lot of ground in this new LRTP, this new long-range transportation plan, and these plans are developed with many public engagement opportunities.”
Stabs says public comments will be limited to two minutes during the virtual meetings, but DOT may schedule more later, depending on the amount of interest in different transportation modes.
“We can definitely schedule a followup meeting or a meeting that can run a little longer depending on how many comments that we receive, she said.”
March 8 is the comment deadline for the draft transportation assessment. Stabs says DOT will provide more opportunities in the fall to comment on the final draft of the plan. The agency hopes to adopt the final plan by the end of the year.
