Planned upgrades to Seward Highway met with pushback from Moose Pass residents

MOOSE PASS, Alaska (KTUU) - A construction project on a 10.5-mile stretch of the Seward Highway is receiving pushback from Moose Pass residents as they raise concerns over the impact it will have on their community.

The rehabilitation project by the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities will go from milepost 25.5 to 36 on the Seward Highway, a section of road that runs through their town. A group of residents formed the group Preserve and Protect Moose Pass, and said the project could impact homes, businesses and septic systems.

“For us in the community, we want to make sure that our voice is being heard,” Preserve and Protect Moose Pass spokesperson John Smart said. “And we have an opportunity to make a revision to the current plan that’s in place with the DOT that benefits the community.”

One of the businesses worried about the construction is Estes Brothers Grocery, which has been family-owned in Alaska since 1934.

“It’s a historical part of the community,” Brooke Estes said.

The ditch created from the project would go through the front door of their store, according to Estes.

“We are not moving the road, we are not widening the road, what we are doing is, like I said, is restoring the roadway,” DOT administration operations manager Justin Shelby said. “With that comes proper ditches and I think that’s where a lot of the concern is coming from.”

Shelby said the scope of the project has changed from what was originally envisioned because of the feedback from the community, and the Kenai Peninsula Borough has delayed platting for the project.

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