By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka has received word that the city will receive a federal $550,000 grant that may pave the way for better and safer roads in the future.
Grants for Alaska under the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program, including the funds for Sitka, were announced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
City Public and Government Relations Director Melissa Henshaw said the grant for Sitka will help cover the cost of an action plan needed to apply for infrastructure funding.
“The idea was to apply for actual infrastructure funding for roads, specifically for Katlian Street,” she said. “But after digging deeper into it we determined that an action plan was required in order to apply for infrastructure funding.”
The “infrastructure funding” she mentioned is the more than $1 trillion approved by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act sponsored by President Biden.
The $800 million in awards for the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program will go to 510 projects across the U.S. Sitka was one of seven communities in Alaska to receive an action plan award.
“Once we get this completed then we will qualify to apply for the infrastructure program,” Henshaw said. “It’s a five-year program, so once we get the action plan done we’ll have time to apply toward the tail-end of the five years,”
The ultimate goal is to make Sitka’s roads safer, she said. From 2016 to 2020 there were six road accidents in Sitka that resulted in serious injuries, including at least one death.
In fiscal year 2022, the last year for which information is available, Sitka spent $1.9 million on infrastructure, an estimated half of it on roads.
Finance Director Melissa Haley said that at the start of the current fiscal year Sitka had an estimated $17.1 million in deferred maintenance on roads.
“Inflation is making it go up even more because the cost of repairing roads keeps going up,” she said. She added that increases in labor and construction costs are exceeding the overall 5.4 percent rate of inflation for the state.
The $550,000 grant requires a match of $150,000 from the city, which will go before the Assembly in ordinance form, city staff said.
Commenting on Sitka’s roads today, Public Works Department director Michael Harmon said, “We are always behind on maintenance and roads especially. We are seeing a significant uptick in potholes, patching and the budget is high in that arena, along with staff time spent.”
