Planning panel accepts traffic plans for Kiewit crew camp

The Nome Planning Commission accepted a proposal for the flow of traffic from the Kiewit crew camp to be constructed at Steadman and 6th Avenue this summer. Kiewit is the contractor for Phase 1A of the Port of Nome expansion project and as part of a conditional use permit, Kiewit was tasked to propose a traffic plan to minimize disruptions to adjacent residents and provide a safe route as approximately 60 vehicles are expected to travel daily between camp and the work site.
This comes after the commission rejected Kiewit’s proposed patterns at the panel’s last meeting on April 21 due to the proximity to residential buildings and time spent in city streets. While the area for the crew camp site is zoned for commercial use many of the streets around it are in areas zoned residential or commercial, raising concerns about increased traffic in those areas.
Kiewit came back to the commission with reworked traffic patterns for the May 5 meeting.
A route from the crew camp to the Alaska Gold Access Road was approved as a primary route, with a secondary route that leads west out of 6th Avenue, taking a left on Division, right onto Fifth Avenue and a right onto the Nome-Teller Highway.
Finally, when school is not in session and between the hours of 2 a.m. and 8 a.m., the commission approved a route that would head from the crew camp east on 6th Avenue before taking a left onto either G or K Street and exiting onto Greg Kruschek Avenue.
That final route was approved only for morning hours because it would increase traffic alongside the Rec Center and softball fields. This raised safety concerns among the commissioners due to increased pedestrian traffic during evening softball games.
Kiewit proposes to transport their workers in trucks that will be parked at the crew camp, with shifts that run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. – meaning that the bulk of the traffic should be constrained to short periods around shift changes.
Commissioner Melissa Ford said that she appreciated Kiewit providing times for the traffic patterns. “I do like that they’ve given us that it’s going to be during these times,” she said. “Makes it feel a little safer if it’s going to be confined to those times.”
Daniel Petersen with Kiewit presented the commissioners with the new proposed patterns via video call. Petersen said Kiewit would be willing to use different routes depending on time of year or community preference. “Kiewit wants to go whatever way is the safest and what the community wants,” he said. “We’re kind of open to whatever means we need to go there.”
Petersen expressed Kiewit’s desire to work with Nome, saying that if the commission had further recommendations, they should offer them to Kiewit.
After approving the routes, the commission moved into building permit reports and training.
The next meeting of the Nome Planning Commission is scheduled for Tuesday, June 5 at 7 p.m.