Due to safety issues, the Eklutna Bridge on the old Glenn Highway will be closed to all traffic in mid-May.
The Municipality of Anchorage plans to make corrections on the bridge so that bicycle and foot traffic can begin in early June.
John Smith is a public works project manager for the municipality. Smith says the bridge has been a source of concern for some time.
The bridge closure will not affect nearby communities, which can use the new Glenn Highway. Smith says the span across the Eklutna River has been in service some 77 years.
A 2010 bridge inspection by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has shown progressive weakening of the bridge’s structural members and welded connections.
Smith says a new bridge will be built at an estimated cost of $14 million.
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
