Page 2 - Mitchell Expressway News Today

Kinross Alaska will start a trial run of its planned Manh Choh ore haul route between Tetlin and Kinross Fort Knox.

Alaska State Troopers reported that a 17-year-old Fairbanks resident was driving under the influence of alcohol when he crashed the ATV with a 15-year-old passenger.

Motorists will get a break this week when bridges on the Mitchell Expressway and Cushman Street reopen. But next week, the state Department of Transportation will begin work on this summer’s biggest Fairbanks-area road project -- the reconstruction of a major intersection on the city’s east side.

A committee that will help study Kinross Gold’s controversial plan to haul ore from a gold mine in Tetlin to the mill near Fairbanks met for the first time Monday. The diverse panel formed by the state Department of Transportation will represent the concerns and interests of communities and agencies along the 240-mile route.

The state Department of Transportation temporarily closed the Mitchell Expressway bridge on the city’s east side over the weekend night, along with a stretch of South Cushman Street, so contractors can repair the structure that was damaged last winter by an oversize load colliding with the structure.

State Department of Transportation officials say it’ll cost more than a million dollars to fix the Mitchell Expressway bridge that was damaged in December when it was struck by a piece of heavy equipment. And they hope to hire a contractor for the project soon.

Kinross Gold officials are proposing to divert trucks hauling ore from a mine near Tok away from the Steese Expressway once they begin hauling ore from the mine two years from now.

The state Department of Transportation gave Fairbanks drivers an early Christmas present last week when it reopened the ramp that connects the Mitchell Expressway and the Richardson Highway on the city’s east side.

The Mitchell Expressway bridge will remain closed until it can be repaired this summer. That’s what state Department of Transportation officials decided Monday after DOT engineers took a close look at the bridge, which they say was seriously damaged last week when it was struck by a piece of heavy equipment.

Engineers are assessing the safety and condition of a Fairbanks overpass bridge after it was hit by an oversize load Friday. The Mitchell Expressway bridge remains closed this morning, and drivers are being detoured onto other streets around the structure.