Rural Roads

Client: Local Tribal Governments

Location: Various Locations, Alaska

The Kuna team works with villages across Alaska to help develop their transportation infrastructure. We enjoy this work because it presents such immediate and tangible benefits to the community. A new road may provide access to a new housing development. A landfill access road may help residents keep their community clean and may increase safety because people can transport their trash overland rather than up river by skiff. Projects that reduce dust improve the health of those with respiratory issues. Improving the quality of access roads can make it easier to reach subsistence areas and can protect the environment by reducing traffic over the tundra.

Each rural road project has its own challenges. Does permafrost or standing water exist along the alignment? Is there a local gravel source or will it have to be barged in? Are there issues obtaining right of way for the road? Accessibility presents its own concerns. In some communities, everything must be flown in; others must wait for a barge that is going in their direction. The Kuna team understands arctic engineering and remote logistics and thrives on these challenges. Kuna’s engineers, environmental staff, planners, and surveyors have been working with these communities for decades. It’s about the process and that’s what makes it interesting.

We collaborate with the community to gain consensus on the project. Kuna often helps our clients to access their BIA Tribal Transportation Program funds or write grants to assist them in putting together the money needed to get the project done. Our team helps with the NEPA process, permitting, surveying, and once design is completed, we can provide construction administration to steer our clients through the project to its conclusion.