Reading Alaska's STIP
The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) keeps a four-year list of the road, bridge, ferry and trail projects it plans to pay for with federal money. That list is the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP. The draft for 2027–2030 is open for public comment now. This page shows what's in it for Ketchikan and how to weigh in.
A project that isn't in the STIP can't use federal highway or transit funds.
Being listed means DOT&PF expects to move the project forward. Schedules can still slip.
DOT&PF says it will publish the comments and its responses in Volume 5 of the final STIP.
Projects along Ketchikan's road, north to south
Numbers match the project list below. Years are federal fiscal years, which start October 1. "Construction funded FY28" means the contract money is set aside between October 2027 and September 2028, so crews would likely be working in the 2028 season or later.
Schematic, not to scale. Locations come from DOT&PF's project descriptions and federal bridge records. DOT&PF's "South Tongass Highway" starts in the West End, near Hoadley Creek at milepost 0.2, so some projects with "South Tongass" in their names are north of downtown.
How Ketchikan's bridges in the plan are rated
Bridges are inspected under federal standards, and each main part is rated from 0 to 9. If any key part scores 4 or lower, the bridge is rated "Poor." That doesn't mean it's unsafe to drive on. It means it needs significant repair or replacement.
Ratings and build years from each project's page in Volume 2 of the draft (V2-152, V2-155, V2-175, V2-255). Rating scale from the Federal Highway Administration's National Bridge Inventory, as summarized by BridgeCondition.com.
The Water Street and Tongass Avenue viaducts
Two concrete viaducts carry Tongass through the north end of downtown, from Elliott Street to Grant Street. Together they're about two-thirds of a mile of elevated road, built in the mid-1950s, and each carries roughly 14,000 vehicles a day. DOT&PF owns them and is planning repairs now and replacement later.
What's rated poor is underneath
Inspectors rate each part of a bridge separately. On both viaducts the road deck you drive on rates Good. The problem is the supports below. Water Street's substructure is rated Poor.
Component ratings from National Bridge Inventory data via BridgeCondition.com (#797) and (#997); lengths and traffic from the same records (count year not listed). The STIP's overall ratings: #797 Poor (4/9), #997 Fair (6/9).
Seventy years of patching, and a start date that keeps moving
- 1955–56Water Street and Tongass Avenue viaducts built
- 1999Both rehabilitated
- 2009Both rehabilitated again
- 2024Emergency repair to the Water Street Viaduct
- TodayDraft STIP open for comment until Oct 29, 2026
- 2028Repair work could start, "as early as"
- 2031+$25 million repair stage for #797 and #997
- 2027–2038+DOT&PF's full phased program
Build years and the 1999, 2009 and 2024 work from DOT&PF's Viaduct Conditions board (Oct 2025). Start-date history from KRBD (Nov 2023), Ketchikan Daily News and the project page.
DOT&PF's four phases
Care for the existing structures so they keep working until they're replaced.
Replace the 1950s bridges and the aging water and sewer lines underneath.
Reduce flooding, rebuild sidewalks, crosswalks, ramps and railings, and repave.
Replace structures as needed, finish utility work with the City, add a traffic signal and crosswalk signs.
DOT&PF says the work could run "as early as 2027 to 2038+" and each project "may span a season to years." From the Project Phasing board (Oct 2025).
DOT&PF's maps of the three funded projects
These are the near-term projects DOT&PF says could start construction as early as 2028. They repair the corridor. They don't replace the viaducts.
Maps: Alaska DOT&PF, Ketchikan Tongass Avenue & Water Street Viaducts project page. North points toward the upper left. On the first two maps, downtown and the tunnel are at the right.
Funded first: repairs, not replacement
- Pavement repairs on Tongass Avenue and Water Street.
- Structure repairs to the bridges "to prevent unexpected closures until the structures are replaced."
- Jim Creek culvert: a larger culvert north of Schoenbar Road to cut flooding, removal of an abandoned bridge structure, and new pavement and pedestrian improvements at the S-curve.
DOT&PF says construction could begin "as early as 2028" and that replacing both viaducts would be separate future projects it is still seeking money for.
Part of Water Street becomes solid ground
STIP project 34785 replaces worn-out sections of the Water Street Viaduct with a hillside retaining wall and earth fill, ending at a new abutment at Bent 22. It also rebuilds the Schoenbar Road intersection and improves pedestrian access. The draft funds $10.25 million for design in FY27 and no construction yet (V2-176).
Also on the table
A Ketchikan Daily News report on DOT's City Council briefing listed wider sidewalks without losing parking, possible traffic signals at Schoenbar/Water and Schoenbar/Berth 4, and curbs reshaped so buses and fire trucks can turn.
Talk to the project team
contact@ketchikanviaducts.com. DOT&PF says it replies within five business days.
Project manager: Jim Brown, P.E., 907-465-1796
DOT&PF's open house materials
- Project phasing board
- Viaduct conditions and needs board
- Right-of-way and property access board
- Environmental review (NEPA) board
- Project page (Sept 29, 2026 open house materials to be posted)
Every Ketchikan project, year by year
Millions of dollars, from each project's page in Volume 2 of the draft. Totals cover only these four years. Several projects also have money committed before 2027 or planned after 2030. The Revilla berth has no project page, so its amount comes from the Volume 3 funding tables. Tap "What is it?" for a description.
Construction lands in a few busy years
Each block is a project's construction money, placed in the federal year it's funded. Outlined blocks are on Tongass itself, the one road through town. The pale dashed block has money listed but no phase, so it may not be construction. Work usually happens in the building season after the money is set aside, and it can slip later.
The airport ferry berths so far
- 2017–2019
Public workshops and Borough Assembly sessions settle on a design with new berths, a passenger waiting building and separate pickup lanes.
- 2020
DOT&PF bids out new berths on both sides plus rehabilitation of the old ones. Engineer's estimate: $40–50 million. Completion deadline: December 31, 2022. The old-berth work was later deferred to a separate contract.
- July 2024
The new berths open. Within two weeks a fire department ambulance scrapes its undercarriage on a new ramp at high tide, and the airport goes back to the old berths.
- Nov 2024
DOT&PF tells NOAA Fisheries the old-berth refurbishment is "delayed to fall 2025 due to funding constraints."
- Fall 2025
The state pays about $550,000 to regrade both new ramps.
- FY27
This STIP funds refurbishing the old berths: $5.6 million (Gravina) and $1.4 million (Revilla). Once both are done, each side has two working berths.
What gets refurbished on each side
- Transfer bridge (the ramp cars drive on): replaced
- Float at the ramp end: replaced with a new steel float
- Catwalk for crew: replaced
- Dolphins the ferry ties to: old ones removed, new ones built (23 new 24-inch steel piles; 12 old piles pulled)
- Hydraulics and electrical: upgraded
- Terminal, landside and utility work "identified through design"
About $7.3 million was committed to this project before FY27; total $12.9 million (V2-76).
- Transfer bridge: replaced
- Float: replaced
- Fenders the ferry rests against: replaced
- One remaining dolphin built (1 pile installed, 1 removed)
- Hydraulics and electrical: rehabilitated
This project has no page in the STIP; its amount appears only in the Volume 3 funding tables. $1.4 million looks small for this scope, so it may cover only part of the work.
Scope from DOT&PF's 2023 marine-mammal permit application (Federal Register, July 20, 2023) and the 2020 bid notice; the 2020 notice said the old bridges would be "restored," the 2023 filing says "replaced." Final plan sheets aren't public yet. Timeline from DOT&PF's project page, its November 2024 letter to NOAA Fisheries, and Ketchikan Daily News reporting (July 2024, 2025).
Questions the draft raises
Each of these comes from DOT&PF's own numbers, and each one is a good place to start a comment.
The viaducts are getting patched, but replacing them isn't funded
Viaduct bridge #797 was built in 1955 and is rated Poor (4 out of 9). DOT&PF's project page says the funded work is spot repairs to pavement and structure, plus a new Jim Creek culvert to reduce flooding on Water Street, with construction "as early as 2028." It says these repairs are meant to keep the viaducts safe until they're replaced, and that replacing both viaducts would be separate future projects it is still seeking money for.
In the STIP, a $25 million repair stage for #797 and #997 is scheduled for 2031 or later. A separate #797 replacement project has $10.25 million for design in 2027 and no construction money.
How long are the spot repairs expected to last, and when will replacing the viaducts be funded?
Project contact: contact@ketchikanviaducts.com. DOT&PF says it answers questions within five business days. Viaduct project page
A lot of construction lands on Tongass at once
Hoadley Creek Bridge in the West End, the first viaduct stage downtown, and Saxman to Surf Street are all funded for construction in FY28. FY29 adds Deermount to Saxman ($42.5 million), the final viaduct stage and the new Saxman ferry terminal. All of it is on Tongass, the one road that runs through town.
Is there a plan to stagger these jobs, and will major closures avoid cruise season?
Deermount to Saxman: a $58 million rebuild with no road condition listed
What's planned: rebuild South Tongass from Deermount Street to Saxman, including the sidewalks, bike facilities, parking, drainage and guardrail.
Why the blank matters: some road projects in the draft list the pavement's condition today and what it will be after the work. The viaduct corridor, for example, goes from "Fair" to "Good." This one leaves both blank, and so does its neighbor, the Saxman to Surf Street rebuild (about $27.7 million in total). Together that's about $85 million of reconstruction where the draft doesn't show how worn the road is or what the work will improve.
Why it's a chance to change the street: construction isn't funded until FY29, so the design is still early. Choices made now, like lane width, sidewalk width and how far people have to walk to cross, will shape how fast traffic moves here for decades.
Why a few miles per hour matter
Engineers design a road for a target speed. Wider, straighter lanes invite faster driving. This national study shows what that means for someone on foot: going from about 23 mph to 42 mph raises a pedestrian's risk of dying from 1 in 10 to 1 in 2.
Average risk of death for a pedestrian struck by a car or light truck, by impact speed. National data, not specific to Ketchikan. Source: Tefft, Impact Speed and a Pedestrian's Risk of Severe Injury or Death, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 2011.
What condition data supports the rebuild? And will the design consider narrower lanes, wider sidewalks and shorter crossings?
A new ferry terminal at Saxman Seaport, and its price has grown
The draft sets aside $25.8 million, mostly from a federal rural ferry grant, to move the M/V Lituya's Ketchikan landing to Saxman Seaport. DOT&PF says it's carrying out the ferry system's 2045 long-range plan (V6-187). Saxman has wanted a terminal since a 1997 joint resolution with the Metlakatla Indian Community.
What would be built, and what people said
- Plan (Concept 3A): a 140-foot vehicle ramp to a floating platform, a separate floating ferry berth held by steel piles drilled into bedrock, a 24×36-foot terminal building with a restroom, ticket counter and waiting area, three 250-foot vehicle lanes, about 130 parking spaces, and 290 feet of small-boat moorage. Space is reserved for battery storage for future electric ferries, and the site could serve as a backup berth for the Inter-Island Ferry.
- Land: Saxman voters rejected selling 7.57 acres to the state in 2007, and the project stalled over lease vs. sale. The current plan leases the land, so it stays with the city. Much of the uplands is leased to Three Bears, which has said it plans to sell fuel from a dock in the harbor.
- Support: Most people at the January 2023 meetings in Saxman (about 45) and Metlakatla (about 60) supported the move, citing shorter runs and more business for both communities.
- Concerns: getting from Saxman to the hospital, hotels and stores without a car; cab costs; a waiting room too small for school sports teams; earlier sailings for 8 a.m. work shifts; lower fares. Pennock Island residents rely on the Saxman floats for their safest boat route to town, and one wrote it would "at least triple" their commute.
- Earlier design money: DOT added a $500,000 design project (STIP 33972) in 2022, and Southeast Conference says the 2024–2027 STIP funded it to reach 35% design. That project number doesn't appear in this draft, and the new project shows $0 committed before 2027.
Is $25.8 million based on the floating-berth design? Will sailings actually increase? Is a shuttle to Ketchikan funded, and what happens to the earlier design work?
Sources: PND Engineers, South Tongass Highway Ferry Terminal Concept Scoping Report for Southeast Conference (July 31, 2023), including Ketchikan Daily News coverage reprinted in its appendix; KRBD, Jan. 2023.
The statewide plan counts on more money than DOT&PF expects in the first three years
FY27 through FY29 are over-scheduled by a combined $401 million, offset by room in FY30. When that happens, some projects usually slip to later years. Southeast and the rest of the Southcoast Region get 7% of statewide funding, plus the ferry system.
If money runs short, which Ketchikan projects would be delayed first?
How to comment by October 29
After the deadline, DOT&PF reviews comments, revises the draft, publishes its responses in Volume 5, and sends the final STIP to federal highway and transit officials for approval (V1-50). Comments sent later are still accepted for future planning.
How to read the STIP yourself
What it is, and what it isn't
From DOT&PF's Table 1-1, V1-12. Airports are planned separately and aren't in the STIP.
Every dollar is tagged with a phase
Design
Engineering and environmental review. This is when public input changes the most.
Buying land
Surveying, appraising and buying property the project needs.
Construction
Building, rebuilding or repairing the road, bridge or terminal.
Utilities
Moving power, water, sewer and phone lines out of the way.
Words you'll see in the draft
- Federal fiscal year (FY)
- October 1 to September 30. FY27 runs from October 2026 to September 2027.
- Advance construction (AC)
- The state starts a project with its own money and gets federal reimbursement later.
- AC conversion (ACC)
- That later reimbursement. An ACC line usually pays for work that has already been done or started.
- Parent and child stages
- A big project split into pieces. Check the "Project Lifecycle Obligations" table on each page for the full cost.
- NHPP
- National Highway Performance Program, the federal fund for major highways like Tongass.
- State match
- The state's share of a federally funded project. For the Ketchikan projects in this draft, it runs from about 9 to 20 percent.
- Fiscal constraint
- The rule that the plan can't count on more money than is reasonably expected.
Statewide money by purpose
Millions of dollars, FY2027–2030. DOT&PF hadn't assigned a purpose to 14.8% of the money in the draft (V3-10).
Statewide money by DOT&PF region
Millions. This view counts money differently from the $5.63 billion headline, so it adds up to more (V3-5).
Statewide money by year, against what's expected
| Fiscal year | Planned | Expected | Over / (under) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Four years | 5,629.75 | 5,499.55 | 130.20 |
Millions (V3-3).
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