Gravel-laying is 1st step in long-discussed road

FAIRBANKS - A long-proposed northern route into Denali National Park and Preserve will take shape as soon as this spring when the Department of Transportation plans to lay gravel for the road's first five miles.

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A road into the heart of the park, among Alaska's top tourist spots, is a goal that stretches back decades. Proponents say it will relieve congestion at the existing entrance while funneling more tourists through Fairbanks.

The state unveiled plans for the $5 million Stampede Road Improvement Project at a public meeting Tuesday in Healy. Joe Keeney, a Department of Transportation manager, said the state wants to add a gravel extension as early as this spring to the existing eight-mile road

"It all depends how much we can do with the money we have," Keeney said. "We'd like to see it extend to the Teklanika River."

Environmentalists and the National Park Service have opposed the idea, saying a second route through subarctic wilderness would disturb wildlife and cost too much.

The idea of a road into the park from the north side of the Alaska Range was first proposed in 1917, the same year the park was founded, as an alternate route to the existing park road. Since then, several routes have been considered, but the one most often mentioned follows a state right of way along the old Stampede Road.

That route was first used by Earl Pilgrim in the mid-1930s as a trail from Lignite Creek to his mining claim on Stampede Creek at the foot of the Kantishna Hills, just inside the park's boundary.

In 1961, the state spent $250,000 for construction of a 50-mile pioneer road along the same route. That road starts at milepost 251 of the Parks Highway, 15 miles north of the park entrance near Healy, and meanders west across the Savage and Teklanika rivers before crossing into the park 30 miles later at the Sushana River.

From the boundary, it's 60 miles to the historic mining community of Kantishna in the heart of the park.

Cars can maneuver only the first part of the road; after eight miles, the road becomes a rugged trail that eventually disappears into tundra. The 80 residents of Panguingue Creek subdivision use the road. So do hunters and outdoor enthusiasts.

Members of the Panguingue Creek Homeowners Association and the Denali Citizens Council, a local public interest group, have opposed development along the road. The groups say increased traffic could make the route unsafe and diminish wilderness.

Before construction may begin, the state must obtain permits from the federal Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Natural Resources. Permitting may be complete by April.