Alaska DOT expects to have Fairbanks roads plowed by Tuesday

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - The Alaska Department of Transportation which is tasked with maintaining many roads around Fairbanks has been working ‘round the clock to clear snow from a record breaking spring storm. The storm, which dumped around 14 inches of snow left many people stuck at home and roads nearly impassible.

Caitlin Frye, Northern Region Information Officer for DOT, said that during the storm they were focusing on the main arteries around town like the Richardson highway, Steese highway, and Johansen expressway.

Since the snow ended they have plowed the priority two roads like Airport Way and College Road, and are now working on the priority three roads.

Frye said the list rounds out with the priority four roads.

“Then they go into kind of those smaller neighborhood roads and those are the priority fours and those are the last roads that our plows will get to. And we expect we will get to the bottom of that list by the end of the day on Tuesday,” Frye said.

After DOT plows the roads out they will go back and begin cleaning out intersections. Frye also said that because of the wet snow and warm temperatures during the storm, there is hard-pack on many roads that they will go back and work to remove.

While DOT is tasked with plowing many roads around Fairbanks, roads inside the city limit are plowed by the City of Fairbanks and many rural neighborhood roads are plowed by the borough.

Copyright 2021 KTVF. All rights reserved.