Sen. Peter Micciche wrote a letter Thursday to Gov. Mike Dunleavy regarding the need for improved winter highway maintenance in the Silvertip Station highway service area.
The September 2019 announcement of the Silvertip Station closure sent ripples through the community that resulted in the Senator engaging with the Governor and the Alaska Department of Transportation on the reality of the decision with regard to its negative impact to the public safety on the Kenai. He said the issue reached a fever pitch on the Kenai during a difficult winter on the Seward and Sterling Highways.
Sen. Micciche spoke to KSRM, “Since the announcement in September of last year the closure of Silvertip, I’ve been fighting this issue and other legislators in the area tried to help. We’ve tried the formal approach and I know the governor is sympathetic about reopening so that we can have adequate winter maintenance on the highway but nothing’s happened yet. The reason why I wrote the letter was kind of a father-to-father appeal to the governor. I purposely left the department of transportation off of the letter. I’m asking the governor, as a father of three daughters, I have four, to think about what families are doing right now and to get to the bottom of this, overrule the department, and provide adequate winter maintenance on the Seward and Sterling Highway.”
Gov. Mike Dunleavy recently received a letter outlining many of the issues and signed by over 2,000 Alaskans from 55 communities and 193 businesses and organizations. Some of those include personal stories from truckers, first responders and families about what they’ve experienced on the highway this year.
Micciche said that some truckers have had to abort their trips midstream because of the road conditions, accidents, families missing medical appointments, and businesses on the Kenai awaiting deliveries. The Senator says he can’t remember the conditions on the Seward and Sterling Highways as bad as they are so far this year.
Micciche said closing Silvertip hasn’t resulted in any cost savings. “The station is still open. It’s warm. It’s equipped. It has chemicals. The closure and moving those positions just resulted in more overtime and less coverage. What we’re asking for is adequate coverage with positions that can efficiently cover the highway just to provide us with a basic level of safe service that Alaskans demand.”
In the letter, Micciche asks that the governor overrule the Alaska Department of Transportation and demand the Silvertip Station to reopen with staffing for an adequate level of highway maintenance for the remainder of the 2020/2021 winter. He states that this immediate solution is imperative.
See the full letter below.
