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RFP awarded for west side access study
Kristen Nelson Petroleum News
The state has contracted for a resource access study focused on the west side of the Susitna Valley in Southcentral Alaska.
“Surface access would greatly benefit Alaskans and create more economic opportunity in the West Susitna River Valley. We remain committed to exploring our options to make the area more accessible,” Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell said in a Jan. 17 statement.
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities said it has contracted with HDR Alaska to research possible routes to connect the area west of the Susitna River with the existing road system.
“Finding the safest and most efficient way to cross the river is crucially important and every option will be reviewed,” DOT&PF Commissioner Patrick Kemp said. “Limited access to the Susitna River diminishes opportunities for many Alaskans and resource development projects. I must also stress that this is an exploratory study, and there is no plan, project design, or commitment to any subsequent project or process.”
The study is expected to be completed late this summer. It will measure and document resource development potential in the area; examine Susitna River crossing options; and research the best way to reach the river from the existing road system.
The department said a web page on dot.alaska.gov will be available as the project develops.
Lack of roads DOT&PF put out a request for proposals for the study in September under the Roads to Resources initiative. At that time the work was estimated to begin Nov. 1 and end April 30 with a cost pegged at less than $100,000.
The RFP described the work as “an evaluation of one or more potential transportation corridors and river crossings to provide surface access to resource development opportunities west of the Susitna River,” specifically evaluation of road access options. The department said it was a preliminary analysis which did not include field work but would be based on published sources and interviews with “responsible parties.”
The Roads to Resources initiative began under Gov. Frank Murkowski and has been a priority for Parnell, with work done on proposals for roads to Ambler, Nome and Umiat. The Umiat proposal is furthest along, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers preparing an environmental impact project. That road would serve fields under evaluation at Gubik and Umiat.
Need for Cook Inlet access The need for access to the west side was addressed in January 2011 by JR Wilcox, president of Cook Inlet Energy. Wilcox told the Alaska Support Industry Alliance Meet Alaska conference that access in Cook Inlet “stands between a lot of potential prospects and what could be real projects.”
Ice roads are expensive and don’t work every winter because of variations in the weather, Wilcox said, while the use of gravel is prohibited “except by exception.”
He cited Roads to Resources as a “great initiative” but said “the poster child of the whole program ought to be the 28 miles linking the Mat-Su to the Beluga-Tyonek area. That’s a very short road; it’s across state land in a permitted right of way; it’s been on the books since the late ’60s and that would immediately lower the operating cost for ... a lot of the western side of Cook Inlet because you could actually access things by truck.”
Wilcox said it’s a surprise to people that doing business on the west side of Cook Inlet can cost more than on the North Slope. One of the reasons for that, he said, is that there is a road to the North Slope, but not to the west side of Cook Inlet.
The RFP said the resource component of the study involved documenting potential opportunities including prospective mines; timber harvest; energy recovery from oil, gas and geothermal; land that could be developed for residential or other uses; community benefits such as lower delivery costs; recreational access; and long-term opportunities “such as surface access further to the west.”
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