The rain is resulting in dangerous driving conditions. State Department of Transportation Northern Region spokeswoman Meadow Bailey says she issued numerous travel advisories this morning.
“For just about every road in the interior, reminding people or warning people that there are obviously extremely wet surfaces and a lot of people are experiencing hydroplaning. So just like in the winter, people need to reduce their speed and make sure that they are allowing extra time to reach their destination. This is not the kind of weather to be speeding around,” she said.
Bailey says the third major rain event in as many weeks rains is resulting in road damage.
“We’re seeing all kinds of pot holes and just degradation of the sides of the road. So areas where we’re kind of having some erosion and water is actually eating away sections of the road,” she said.
Bailey says DOT crews are driving area roads 24 hours a day making emergency repairs. She says temporary repairs are also being made to the damage caused to the Denali Park Road last week by rain swollen creeks near the road’s end at mile 92.
“We have a crew that is working in Kantishna and actually our maintenance crew is going there to look at what longer term repairs will need to be made today. So they’re going to bring back pictures and a more extensive report from that area,” she said.
The emergency repair work comes amidst numerous summer road construction and resurfacing projects the wet weather is hampering progress on.
Dan Bross is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
