A handful of serious projects could be impacted as a result of a highway funding conformity freeze caused by the Environmental Protection Agency’s partial disapproval of the Fairbanks North Star Borough’s nonattainment area.
Jackson Fox, executive director of Fairbanks Area Surface Transportation Planning, provided an update to the organization’s policy board on Wednesday.
He noted that recent inter-agency meetings between federal, state and local partners outlined which projects might be exempt from a conformity freeze.
The conformity freeze doesn’t prevent FAST Planning from spending money on projects on its transportation improvement plan. But projects or the plan itself can’t be significantly adjusted.
“The projects we have on the books are what we can move forward with, as there is no highway funding being withheld from our area,” Fox said. “But we have to stick to our plan as it would be very difficult to modify it.”
The EPA partially disapproved the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation’s state implementation plan for the Fairbanks/North Pole area with regard to 24-hour fine particulate matter pollution in November.
The conformity freeze started in January.
Fox said the state intends to submit a revised plan by June, but the EPA will spend the next 18 months reviewing it.
“We are expecting to remain in this conformity freeze for a period of two years,” Fox said.
Some projects are exempt, such as those dealing with air quality improvement, mass transportation, safety-related projects and Highway Safety Improvement Program implementations, among a handful of others.
Projects funded with Congestion Mitigation Air Quality funding are also exempt.
The two-year delay could impact the construction timeline on the Steese Highway/Johansen Expressway interchange project, which increased by $30 million since its initial planning stages.
The Steese/Johansen project involves a “diverging diamond” design that would vastly improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety and cut down on wait times for motorists making left turns from the interchange.
DOT Northern Region spokesperson John Perrault clarified on Friday that the $30 million increase was from when the project was originally designed in the world.
The Steese/Johansen project’s $81 million cost estimate remains DOT’s latest best estimate, but added it still remains subject to change.
“We live in a dynamic cost environment these days,” Perrault said.
Perrault said DOT intends to move forward with the project, which breaks ground in 2025. He added the project has already been programmed into both the State Transportation Plan and FAST Planning’s short and long range plans.
Perrault said some ambiguity remains as the state works through federal requirements with the Federal Highway Administration and other federal partners over resubmission of the STIP.
In an unrelated matter, the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration rejected the STIP over several issues, including over-programming some projects and a lack of clarity on funding others.
During a House Transportation Committee meeting on Thursday, DOT Commissioner Ryan Anderson expressed some concerns about federal corrective actions, including contract amendments for any projects that increase by 20%.
In the past, DOT had the flexibility to provide change orders to adjust cost overruns. Now, FHWA may require a STIP amendment, which could take three months and derail a project in the middle of construction season.
Perrault said those discussions are still being discussed with federal agencies, including the EPA and FHWA.
Fox, FAST Planning’s executive director, noted on Friday that FAST Planning still needs to amend its long-range plan to update the project’s estimate. The long-range plan indicates it would cost $51 million, a number that’s changed a few times since then.
“I don’t believe they can obligate funds for construction until we do an amended [plan amendment],” Fox said. “We can’t amend it under the conformity freeze because it busts our fiscal constraint.”
However, Fox questioned whether it would be a true delay under the conformity freeze.
“DOT still has a lot of design and right-of-way acquisition work to do,” Fox said. Part of the project calls for acquiring the property owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Lazelle Road, which would be demolished.
“I think that DOT was a little optimistic in thinking it will go to construction in 2025 … it may take the entire two years of the conformity freeze to do that design and acquisition work,” Fox said. “We will be in a position then to get the amendment through.”
Like Perrault, Fox said there remains a lot of clarity to work through with federal agencies on both the STIP and conformity freeze issues.
Fox, on Wednesday, noted that other projects could be impacted.
The Old Steese Highway reconstruction project has some partial flexibility.
Fox said the project is split into two phases. The first phase, estimated at $15 million, includes resurfacing and sidewalk replacement from Third Avenue to Trainor Gate.
“That project, in my opinion, is likely to be exempt and could move forward,” Fox said.
The second phase wouldn’t be exempt simply because it increases traffic capacity. The phase would turn Old Steese from Trainor Gate to the Johansen Expressway into a five-lane road.
“That may be on hold until the conformity freeze is lifted,” Fox said.
When asked if the Old Steese project could be reclassified as a regionally significant project to avoid the conformity freeze, Jackson said such a designation would only create additional scrutiny.
The Steese Highway Mile 5 bridge at Chena Hot Springs Road and the Richardson Highway Mile Point 346/Chena Flood Project bridge replacements were also in question of whether they were exempt.
The Chena Flood Project bridge replacement remains in dispute over whether it was partially in FAST Planning’s boundaries. However, the bridge project remains entirely within the nonattainment area, something Fox said could still impact federal funding.
Fox said the EPA requested more project details on each bridge about whether they would be considered exempt.
“They want to see more design plans, more scope and understand the traffic control plan for these projects with any potential impact for air quality,” Fox said.
He added that the FHWA had since determined the Chena Flood Project bridge was exempt from conformity freeze requirements. The EPA will make a final decision next week.
The Steese Highway/Chena Hot Springs Road bridge will require additional review.
“These are not the only projects of concern,” Fox said. “We are going to run into other projects over the next two years.”
Borough Mayor Bryce Ward, the policy board chair, agreed with Fox’s assessment.
“I think as we get deeper and deeper into the conformity freeze, looking at projects will be more and more important and a little bit different,” Ward said. “I think this is going to be the new normal for the next couple of years as we make sure projects can advance.”
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