One of the things on the Kenai we count on but almost always take for granted are the roads

One of the things on the Kenai we count on but almost always take for granted are the roads, streets and highways we use everyday. Our outstanding system of surface transportation nationwide is what makes our modern society possible and our life style the envy of most every nation in the world today.

Here on the Kenai Peninsula our asphalt highways have come at great expense and have been developed and constructed over a long period of time. The ease we have of moving from one city or place to another is easy to take for granted and most of us never even give our highways a second thought, and we probably rarely even think about, let alone appreciate the people who maintain them, the folks who work at the local stations of the D.O.T., the Alaska Department of Transportation.

Most of us feel that snow removal after our winter snow storms has never been better for at least the last six or eight years and continues to improve every winter. That includes the sanding of mile after mile of icy areas throughout our six months of winter. Cleaning up our highways each spring and removing all the sand and gravel from winter maintenance has simply been outstanding and especially timely this year. Even the asphalt entry areas to connecting gravel roads and driveways have been swept clean of sand and gravel and it isn’t even the end of April yet. Plus, for those who like to walk, jog and ride their bikes on our extensive asphalt bike paths, they have been swept clean as well. Then during the summer months someone has to fill in the occasional pot hole and refresh those yellow and white markings of centerlines and highway edges. Maintenance of our highways is an on going daily project that we all tend to take for granted.

The people responsible for taking care of our highways in the Twin Cities area are headquartered at the D.O.T. stations in Soldotna, and Nikiski and the Supervisor for the entire area is a man who makes sure it all happens in the most timely manner possible is Carl High.

The Soldotna Station is responsible for 487 miles of our highways with a foreman, electrician and 8 other maintenance employees. The Nikiski station handles 265 miles of highway with just four maintenance people including a foreman. Along with other station personnel at Ninilchik, Homer and Quartz Creek they take care of over 1700 miles of our highways on the Peninsula.

So, next time your drive anywhere on our Kenai Peninsula maybe you’ll look a little differently at our 1700 miles of asphalt highways, notice when the snow is all cleared, the icy spots are sanded, the pot holes are repaired and how clean they are of sand and gravel and looking good for our summer visitors. Maybe next time you see or talk to one of our D.O.T. maintenance people you’ll know that these are the people who are there for all of us and whom we seem to always take for granted.

Think About It! JCD 4-28-10