West Susitna Access Road touted at Mat-Su Economic Summit

The road project received an $8.5 million capital allocation from the Alaska Legislature in 2022. In 2023, the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) included a two-phase West Susitna Access Road project in its Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, essentially splitting the project in two.

The DOT&PF project consists of two phases: The first phase includes a 17-mile-long, 25-foot-wide new road at Little Su Road to the south bank of the Susitna River, building two bridges over the Little Susitna River and Fish Creek , and ends in a boat launch on the Susitna River. The second phase would build an additional 5 miles at a proposed equipment site near Alexander Creek, with bridges spanning the Susitna River and Alexander Creek. The two projects total more than $76 million. A request for proposals is currently underway for environmental, design and engineering projects.

AIDEA has also asked the Legislature for authorization to borrow up to $300 million to support “critical minerals” mining projects statewide, some of which could be used for the West Susitna region.

The project is not without its detractors. Lodge owners whose business depends on the isolation and wilderness, along with others who oppose the road, banded together in 2022 to form the Alaska Range Alliance and launched a $200,000 ad campaign to block the project. The Susitna River Coalition, a group initially formed to oppose the Susitna-Watana Dam project, also opposes the road, as does Defend the West Su, a group that states on its website that an industrial road through the network of rivers and creeks originating from the Alaska Range would “cause irreversible damage to rivers, wetlands and other critical fish and wildlife habitat in the Susitna River Basin and waste millions of dollars the state cannot afford.”

To advocate for the road, Swentna Roadhouse owner Cindi Herman formed a coalition called Friends of West Susitna. The group argues that more Alaskans should be able to reach the area. Currently, the only access west of the Little Susitna River is a winter-only trail to the Fish Creek Natural Resource Management Unit.