Resource roads

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What would it take to get a road built to access resources in Umiat, Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell was asked when he addressed the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Sept. 14.

“About $3 million a mile,” the governor responded, so for a 75-mile road, $215 million to $220 million.

Parnell said the road is a real option and would open up a lot of resources, both to companies and to Alaskans.

It will take cooperation between the administration and the Legislature to make that happen, he said.

Parnell said the rub is it will cost money and he is working to restrain the growth of government spending.

But roads are capital investments, the governor said, and cited the Transcontinental Railroad in the Lower 48 as a project that required huge investment, but opened up economies all across the central and western United States.

“Roads and infrastructure projects do lead to economic activity … and jobs for Alaskans,” he said.

Parnell said he will work on the road to Umiat: “That’s something that’s a high priority for us.”

The administration is also looking at a road to Nome to open up the state’s mineral resources, he said.

His administration is “looking at a number of different options … options that can increase economic activity.”

—Kristen Nelson