No Department of Transportation staffing changes are planned for the Kenai Peninsula although longer wait times may be seen on lower priority roads this winter.
Shannon McCarthy with the DOT said the current positions held at the peninsula shops were funded through the FY 2015 budget cycle, not the most recent.
McCarthy: “What we have right now are no staffing changes in the Kenai Peninsula district for DOT.”
Some state departments affected by fiscal cuts eliminated empty positions and transitioned full-time employment opportunities to part-time.
McCarthy says the DOT is only looking to reduce overtime which will increase the amount of time it takes for lower priority roads to be cleared in winter storms.
McCarthy: “It’s what has allowed us to respond so quickly to those priority 3 or priority 4 roads. When we’ve had an operator out clearing, a lot of times when they’re done with those priority 1 or priority 2 roads they are able to hit those threes and fours because they’re already on the road. That’s what’s being eliminated, we’ll have those operators come back and we’ll send out the next available operator.”
Those changes will be most apparent to the public during extended winter storms when all operators are focused on the high-speed, heavy-traffic connective roadways, according to McCarthy.