The intersection of 10th Street and Egan Drive will undergo major repairs beginning on Friday, said an Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities spokesperson
“This project is like deep surgery. We’re going 10 inches down. We’re putting gravel and two 3 inch layers of asphalt,” said Sam Dapcevich, a spokesperson for the DOT, in a phone interview. “We intend it to be a very long term solution, with occasional mill-and-fills. This is intended to be permanent.”
The intersection will be undergoing 24-7 road work beginning Friday in the late morning. Traffic will be compelled to detour. The turn lanes on and off of Douglas Bridge will be the only access to the island. The work is expected to be finished by Sunday night, Dapcevich said.
[Douglas repaving project in the works]
“They’re taking advantage of the low traffic levels because of no tour busses, and they’re going to pave the whole intersection in one sweep,” Dapcevich said. “It’s better when hot asphalt meets hot asphalt. When hot asphalt meets cold asphalt, it’s called a cold joint, and in the long term, it’s bad for asphalt. Having those hot joints will lengthen the lifespan of the intersection.”
The last overhaul on the intersection came in 1997, Dapcevich said. With the abruptly terminated tourist traffic, the DOT is taking advantage to make their repairs as long-lasting as possible. The repairs will require a little suffering from Juneau over the weekend.
“What we’re asking people if you don’t need to go through there, please don’t,” Dapcevich said.
Drivers will have access to Douglas via the turn lane from Egan Drive inbound toward downtown.
Drivers coming from Douglas will be compelled to take the right-side turn lane onto Egan Drive toward downtown.
Through traffic on Egan Drive will have to take right turns on Whittier Street or Glacier Avenue on the outbound or 12th Street on the inbound to circumvent the intersection.
“If people want to keep up, updates will be on egandriveproject.com,” Dapcevich said.
