The state Department of Transportation is taking emergency action to start work on protecting the Glenn Highway from Matanuska River waters North of Sutton. State Representative Jim Colver says he viewed the damage from river erosion Monday, and has requested emergency help from DOT.
“Unfortunately, the whole force of the main stem of the river is movinig over to that bank. It’s cutting through woods and going in an area it has never been before, and it is advancing to the road very quickly. The idea is to take action before the road is gone.”
The Matanuska River has been steadily carving a channel on the north bank near Sutton, resulting in extensive erosion which is affecting homes along the riverbank. Colver says the river water is coming dangerously close to the Glenn Highway, and is slapping against the highway right of way already.
The erosion is affecting seven area homes.
APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
