Alaska’s legislature adjourned last week (5-16-24) after passing a $4.1 billion-dollar capital budget.
But the massive spending package included no money whatsoever for two important projects in the district represented by Sitka Sen. Bert Stedman: Sitka’s Katlian Bay Road and the new Petersburg Hospital.
In a conversation with KFSK’s Shelby Herbert, Stedman was clearly frustrated by the situation. Millions from a state transportation bond have already been spent on the Katlian project – which remains far from completion – while the Petersburg Hospital is still in the planning stages.
KFSK: Is there funding to complete the Katlian Bay Road in either the capital or operating budgets?
Stedman: No. The appropriation is too large. They’re about $20 (million) short and another $7 (million) for bridges. No, not a dime. There is leftover bond appropriation money from projects up north that have been federalized that they can redirect, if DOT (the Alaska Department of Transportation) decides to do that. And the governor decides to do that. But I couldn’t put any money in that project. I want to say it’s three quarters of the way done. It’s all connected. It just got to do the bridges and some other stuff. But no, there’s not 10 cents in the budget.
KFSK: Do you think it’s a worthy project?
Stedman: Well, there’s no doubt about that. There hasn’t been a road expansion in Sitka in 60 or 70 years or so. Probably 60 years. And it gets into an area that can be developed in Katlian Bay – so that’s not a challenge. In that regard, the challenge is getting the funds to finish it. If they would have done the project back in 2012-13, when the money was available, the bond proceeds and stuff, and built a road down on the waterfront instead of up on hillside, it would have been done years ago and cost probably a quarter of what they’re spending on it.
So unfortunately, neither one of those big projects – one’s three quarters of the way done and this one here (the Petersburg hospital) is just doing some dirt work. Neither one got 10 cents and I don’t see the ability to do big appropriations for projects around Southeast outside of energy coming at us. But another differentiation between Katlian and the hospitals is that hospitals are municipal. Katlian Bay’s a state highway. So there’s a little difference between those two projects, but neither one of them got 10 cents.
