Welcome!

McCarthy Road Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study

The Federal Highway Administration - Western Federal Lands (WFL) Highway Division, in partnership with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) and the National Park Service (NPS), worked together to conduct a corridor study along the McCarthy Road.

Thank you for your interest in the McCarthy Road Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study website! Go to Documents to download the final report. When the project website closes at the end of the year, the final PEL Study Report will be available at the Western Federal Lands website and the DOT&PF Northern Region Projects website.

This study identified transportation-related improvements for the McCarthy Road corridor. This included improvements related to road condition and drainage issues, hazards such as landslides, and bridges and culverts. Enhancements related to visitor and recreation access were also considered. The study corridor extends 60 miles from the eastern end of Chitina to the Kennicott River, and another four miles to the southern end of the Kennicott subdivision.

Project No. AK FLAP DOT 198(4)

About

Over the years, residents and visitors have provided feedback that calls for the need to improve the reliability of access and public safety along the McCarthy Road Corridor. In response, the Federal Highway Administration - Western Federal Lands (WFL) Highway Division partnered with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) and the National Park Service (NPS) to prepare the McCarthy Road PEL study. The study is funded through the Federal Lands Access Program.

2023June_McCarthyMeetnGreet

McCarthy study team and community meet-and-greet in June 2023

2023June_ChitinaMeetnGreet

Chitina study team and community meet-and-greet in June 2023

The PEL framework encourages decision-makers to incorporate environmental considerations, community, and economic goals early in the transportation planning process. Through a PEL process, this study will:

  • Explore existing opportunities along the McCarthy Road
  • Identify and evaluate potential transportation and access improvements; and
  • Propose recommendations for future improvement projects.
ATVfishing_eastofChitina_UseThis

The McCarthy Road PEL study will have two outcomes:

A framework that identifies prioritized transportation-related projects along the McCarthy Road, and a plan to complete those projects.
Bring together stakeholders and users of the McCarthy Road to improve communication and build relationships to identify transportation and access needs.

Public and stakeholder involvement will be integrated throughout the PEL process. Stakeholders, such as the DOT&PF, Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Ahtna, local businesses, and the public will come together to identify current and future needs within the study area. WFL will consult directly with Native Village of Chitina.

Map

The Road

McCarthy Road Fast Facts

Main-Access

Main Access

The McCarthy Road is the main overland access into Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

Population

Population

Approximately 100 people live in the Chitina area, 100 people live in the McCarthy area year-round, and at least a dozen families within the road corridor in-between.

Daily Vehicles

Daily Vehicles

Historic annual average daily traffic on the McCarthy Road (at Chitina) is 205 vehicles.

Peak Vehicles

Peak Vehicles

During the peak season, average daily traffic jumps to 400 vehicles.

Road Maintenance

Road Maintenance

The road is owned by DOT&PF and maintained seasonally from May 15 to October 1.

Schedule

The PEL process and study will be done in partnership with Native organizations, the public, stakeholders, and federal and state resource agencies.

Project Advisory Committee (PAC) Formation

The McCarthy Road PAC will meet throughout the study to provide guidance and input. The PAC consists of representatives from DOT&PF, NPS, Native Village of Chitina, Ahtna, local residents, and organizations representing tourism, economic development, and regional planning organizations.

Previous Engagement

#1

Public Meeting

The goal of the first round of public engagement was to identify needs and opportunities along the McCarthy Road corridor. The first of the project’s three public meetings was held as an online open house, available from November 2023 to January 2024. Prior to the online open house, the team hosted the first PAC meeting on November 16, 2023, and launched a project website. We also held an informal study team meet-and-greet with the public in Chitina and McCarthy in June 2023.

The first online open house allowed for public comments to be gathered in multiple ways, including an interactive mapping tool that allowed visitors to tag their comments to specific locations along the study corridor. The online open house also contained a link to a poll intended to solicit more detailed input on corridor vision, purpose statement, and goals.

More than 300 comments were collected throughout the first engagement period. Popular comment themes included:

  • Access (e.g., road reliability, parking, bridge access)
  • Road design and road character
  • Bridge condition (e.g., Gilahina, Kennicott River)
  • Road condition/maintenance (e.g., drainage, culverts, chip seal, glaciation, brush clearing, sight distance, potholes, erosion, winter maintenance)
  • Hazards (e.g., landslide, avalanche, bluffs)
  • Safety (e.g., speeding, emergency services)
  • Community considerations and economic development
  • PEL process
  • Visitor experience (e.g., pullouts, waysides, signage)
  • Recreation opportunities (e.g., trails, lake access, boat ramp)
  • Multi-modal accommodation (i.e., bicyclists, pedestrians)

A detailed report on the first round of engagement can be viewed here.

#2

Public Meeting

The second round of engagement occurred in July and August 2024. The online open house allowed the public to discuss and evaluate a variety of potential road corridor improvements on a mapper that the study team identified based on suggestions during the first round of engagement. In-person meetings were held in Glenallen, Chitina and McCarthy. More than 70 people attended in person.

A detailed report on the second round of engagement can be viewed here.

#3

Public Meeting

The third and final round of engagement occurred in June and July 2025. The provided the opportunity to review, prioritize, and comment on the recommended improvements included in the draft PEL Study Report. A detailed report on Public Meeting #3 is included in Appendix C of the final PEL Study Report.

Documents

Final PEL Study Report & Appendices

Draft PEL Study Report

PEL Study Documentation

Other Resources

Contacts

Federal Highway Administration – Western Federal Lands, Highway Division

Seth English-Young, Planning Team Lead

seth.english-young@dot.gov

(360) 619-7803

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities

Paul Eckman, DOT&PF Northern Region Design Engineer

paul.eckman@alaska.gov

(907) 451-2275

National Park Service

Joshua Scott, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve Chief of Lands & Planning

joshua_scott@nps.gov

(907) 822-7243

Jacobs

Leslie Robbins, Project Manager

leslie.robbins@jacobs.com

Kim Wetzel, Public Involvement Lead

kim.wetzel@jacobs.com

(90seven) 440-1591

To request accommodations for persons with disabilities, information in alternate formats, or to request interpretation

Contact Kim Wetzel at (90seven) 440-159one or kim.wetzel@jacobs.com.