Kenai Peninsula Boasts Healthy Construction Season.

• Author: JACKINSKY, MCKIBBEN

With a to-do list as long as the peninsula itself, Kenai Peninsula residents are gearing up for a busy summer. From roads to harbors to airports, this area is seeing a boon in commercial construction.

SEWARD

Seward Harbormaster Jim Beckham said the north end of the harbor is get ting a facelift that will replace deteriorating wood floats with some made out of a new style concrete.

"This is a very different design and different quality concrete," Beckham said of the $7 million project. "It's the first of its kind in Alaska and I think it will last us a long time."

The project replaces 200 slips and adds 40 new ones. Construction began in February and will be completed before the fishing crowd arrives. Utility work-water, sewer and electric-will be wrapped up by June.

Upgrades to other parts of the harbor are on the horizon, but this initial project includes refurbishment of the "E" float, the heavily used transient float that is temporary home to some 250,000 boaters during a season. Beckham said estimated boat usage of the 565-slip harbor runs as high as one million annually.

Meanwhile, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities will be smoothing the road to Seward between mileposts 8 and 18, according to Murph O'Brien, assistant to the department's director for the central region. The $14.7 million project will widen the road for passing lanes, reconstruct Grouse Creek Bridge and resurface the highway between mileposts 13 and 18.

SOLDOTNA

Soldotna Public Works Director Stephen Bonebrake said the city of Soldotna is looking forward to a busy construction season.

"It's definitely not any slower (than other seasons)," Bonebrake said. "The last two, three years have been very busy."

Roadwork heads the city's list, and although all of it isn't being done by the city, it definitely has an impact on the community.

A $3.1 million DOT/PF project will reconstruct a one-mile portion of the Sterling Highway from the Soldotna Fred Meyer store, continuing through town to Kobuk Street, according to DOT/PF's O'Brien. And a second state project includes widening the Kenai River bridge to four lanes to the tune of $15.9 million.

Bonebrake said the city is putting finishing touches on a 7,500-foot stretch of East Redoubt Street.

"We've already done the underground work-water and sewer," Bonebrake said. "This year we'll be finishing up the earthwork and paving. This has been a high-maintenance road. It's going to be a real nice project when...