Legislature(2015 - 2016)BUTROVICH 205
02/26/2015 01:00 PM Senate TRANSPORTATION
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Informational Hearing on the Dalton Highway | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
SENATE TRANSPORTATION STANDING COMMITTEE
February 26, 2015
1:01 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Senator Peter Micciche, Chair
Senator Mike Dunleavy
Senator Bert Stedman
Senator Dennis Egan
MEMBERS ABSENT
Senator Click Bishop, Vice Chair
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
INFORMATIONAL HEARING ON THE DALTON HIGHWAY
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
ROBERT CAMPBELL
Central Region Director and Acting Northern Region Director
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Talked about the capital program for the
Dalton Highway, the maintenance program on the Dalton Highway,
and about safety on the Dalton Highway.
AVES THOMPSON, Executive Director
Alaska Trucking Association (ATA)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on vehicular use of the Dalton
Highway.
ALAN HOZA
Project Specialist
Alaska West Express
Fairbanks, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Said he is a former Haul Road driver and
does safety officer training.
ROGER BROWN, Dispatch Manager
Carlile Enterprises
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on vehicular use of the Dalton
Highway.
ART REED, Terminal Manager
Sourdough Express
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on vehicular use of the Dalton
Highway.
DAN SMITH, Director
Measurement Standards and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF)
Juneau, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Reviewed information on permits, inspections
and violations on the Dalton Highway.
KRISTIN RYAN, Director
Division of Spill Prevention and Response (SPAR)
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC)
Anchorage, Alaska
POSITION STATEMENT: Commented on SPAR's coordination efforts
with the Measurement Standards and Commercial Vehicle
Enforcement Division, DOTPF.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:01:38 PM
CHAIR PETER MICCICHE called the Senate Transportation Standing
Committee meeting to order at 1:01 p.m. Present at the call to
order were Senators Stedman, Dunleavy, and Chair Micciche.
^Informational Hearing on the Dalton Highway
Informational Hearing on the Dalton Highway
1:02:40 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE announced that the committee would take up an
informational hearing on the Dalton Highway from the Department
of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF) and industry
representatives.
SENATOR EGAN joined the committee.
1:02:55 PM
ROBERT CAMPBELL, Central Region Director and Acting Northern
Region Director, Department of Transportation and Public
Facilities (DOTPF), Anchorage, Alaska, said he wanted to talk
about three main topics today: the capital program for the
Dalton Highway, the maintenance program on the Dalton Highway,
and about safety on the Dalton Highway.
He said the capital program involves four different categories:
-historical capital projects for a total of $45 million
-projects active in construction for about $100 million
-projects in the design phase for about $250 million
-long range projects 2015-2018
Nearly $800 million of capital work has been completed or will
be completed on the Dalton Highway in the next 10 years. One can
say they are vigorously investing in this corridor.
MR. CAMPBELL stated that all of these projects are federally
funded, so they are somewhat at the whim of a steady stream of
federal funds. It also comes with a lot of red tape and process
that minimizes the efficiency of delivering some of these
projects.
1:06:28 PM
MR. CAMPBELL said the Dalton Highway is about 400 miles long and
has seven maintenance stations. Each station is responsible for
60-70 miles of highway and has relatively small crews - two or
three people at a time who work a week on/a week off. Some of
these remote camps have employee retention issues, because it's
hard to have a family working that schedule in a remote location
and because other industries offer better wages.
MR. CAMPBELL said going forward they are looking at a 10 percent
cut in the maintenance budget which will affect every route in
the state. The higher class and higher volume and commercial
value facilities will be maintained first. So, roads like the
Dalton Highway will not bear the brunt of those cuts, but there
will be impacts.
He said the department does a lot of analysis every year on all
routes statewide to determine their relative safety. The Dalton
Highway is one of the safest routes, statistically, with only
one-quarter the rate of accidents of the average for rural two-
lane roads. However, their safety numbers are based on reported
accidents only, so it may not be a complete picture.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked what percentage of traffic on the Dalton
Highway is tied in directly to activity in Prudhoe Bay and
Kuparuk.
MR. CAMPBELL answered about one-third of all vehicles go all the
way to Deadhorse.
1:10:45 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN said this subject matter had been on the table
for 10 years in anticipation of constructing a gasline and asked
if this highway is on track to handle upcoming construction.
MR. CAMPBELL answered yes. The Haul Road was built in 1974 and
it has been improved a lot since then, but it could be better.
SENATOR STEDMAN asked if that includes bridges and culverts and
choke points.
MR. CAMPBELL replied it's not a stationary target; every spring
thaw the roads have problems. The road can handle a lot of
freight traffic now, but it could be improved to accommodate
construction of a pipeline. Two-thirds of it is already paved.
1:13:16 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN asked about availability of rock and gravel.
MR. CAMPBELL answered that most of the northern part of the
state has a shortage of good granular material. Two main
agencies control the lands along the Dalton Highway: the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) and the Department of Natural Resources
(DNR) that handles extraction permits. It is hard to get
approval to develop those sites and they are usually quite a
long distance away.
1:14:50 PM
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked about the plan, the cost and the timeline
for dealing with the ice wedge creep along a portion of the
highway.
MR. CAMPBELL answered that the frozen debris lobe is at mile 218
and is moving about an inch a day, pretty fast in a geological
sense. It will probably need to get fixed within the next 10
years and will cost about $70 million; most of that is for
realigning the road around the node, which belongs to the BLM.
However, they are not particularly interested in solving the
problem from their end, so the state will probably have to move
the road.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked if the road is realigned would it still
be in the corridor or will permits be needed.
MR. CAMPBELL said he didn't know if the state has a floating
right-of-way centered on the road or not, but as with any
project, complexities will come with moving the road in terms of
environmental regulations and wetlands, and they would probably
need somebody's land when all is said and done.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked if this node picks up speed unexpectedly
could they move their timeline up.
MR. CAMPBELL answered that it has accelerated over the last 15
years from moving 1 foot a year to 2 or 3 feet a year. The
department will respond to it as needed, as they have in every
other emergency.
1:19:06 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE asked if the Richardson Highway weigh station is
the feeder weigh station.
MR. CAMPBELL didn't know the answer to that.
CHAIR MICCICHE said the third and fourth quarter of 2014 had a
higher number of commercial motor vehicles (CMV) over 60,000
pounds and asked what that means for road quality.
MR. CAMPBELL answered that heavier vehicles are more destructive
to a road exponentially. A 20,000-pound vehicle is not twice as
damaging as a 10,000 pound vehicle; it's six times as damaging
or whatever. That is why they have road closures and monitor the
temperatures and moisture content of the road. They try to limit
those larger vehicles to times when the road is structurally
sounder and is able to resist the impacts better, like in the
winter time.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked the average annual maintenance and
operations budget for the road.
MR. CAMPBELL said the Dalton Highway budget is $15-20 million.
1:22:10 PM
AVES THOMPSON, Executive Director, Alaska Trucking Association
(ATA), Anchorage, Alaska, said this hearing deals with one of
the most important freight corridors in the state. Hundreds and
sometimes thousands of loaded trucks head north from Fairbanks
monthly on the only land link to the North Slope oil field. The
Dalton Highway is the route to carry freight of all kinds to
supply the oil field operations for the several oil fields from
Pt. Thomson on the east to Kuparuk and Milne Point on the west.
It carries drill pipe, groceries, drilling mud, chemicals,
explosives, hazardous gases, heavy construction equipment,
living quarters and many other products.
The Dalton also carries a lot of tourists in the summer time.
Motor coaches make daily trips north and south with passengers
from all over the world. Several state and federal agencies use
this road every day year-round in the performance of their
duties. Hunters, snow-machiners, skiers, campers, all make their
way north throughout the year.
1:23:39 PM
The ATA identified the Dalton Highway as their number-one
legislative priority this year, he said, but they understand the
budget crisis that exists and recognize the limitations.
Clearly, though, the work goes on at the North Slope and the
road continues to be driven. Their four areas of concern are:
1. Maintenance. Work goes on day and night every day of the week
and it's important to maintain the road on a 24/7 basis.
2. Enforcement. The culture has been that everyone looks out for
each other over the last 30-40 years. But with a change in
demographics of the truck-driving corps, a lot of new drivers
are not engrained with that same safety culture. An enforcement
presence is needed to help create a reasonable certainty that if
you break the rules, you're going to get caught, creating a
safer workplace for drivers. Incidentally, he said, the feeder
weigh station is the Fox weigh station at the junction of the
Steese and Dalton Highways. The Richardson weigh station is
between Eielson Air Force Base and downtown Fairbanks near the
Badger Road intersection.
In the absence of personnel present on the Haul Road itself,
perhaps the Fox weigh station could be opened 24/7. Then
problems could be identified before vehicles even get on to the
road.
3. Infrastructure is always an issue. They appreciate the work
that DOTPF has done and will do to keep the road up to
standards. The new delineators were a great improvement; they
are the markers on the side of the road that help identify the
edge of the road. However, they should not be white, but a
contrasting color. Pullouts are important as drivers need to put
chains on their truck to make a hill.
4. He frequently gets asked how many trucks move between
Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay and that leads to the fourth item
which is producing and maintaining current survey data to help
get a better handle on how much traffic is going all the way to
Prudhoe Bay.
SENATOR STEDMAN asked him to elaborate more on safety and the
culture change issue.
MR. THOMPSON answered that as the driver corps ages, new drivers
come in from Outside. Some folks are bringing loads from the
Lower 48 destined for Prudhoe Bay; they get to Fairbanks or
Coldfoot and don't go any further. They don't have the same
sense of caring for each other that was seen in the last 30 or
40 years. An enforcement presence or checking in at Fox weigh
station will help cure that problem.
1:30:24 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN said he expected the public safety budget to
shrink and wondered if industry could do something to get the
message down to the new drivers.
MR. THOMPSON said that was a good idea and that the industry had
formed the Haul Road Safety Committee that consists of
producers, contractors, trucking companies, the motor carriers,
and the folks who are doing work on the roads. They get together
on a quarterly or more frequent basis and talk about safety
concerns.
He said communication is an important issue. For example, a
couple of years ago, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC)
implemented a new rule on the use of very high frequency (VHF)
radios that required written agreements to be in place for a
driver of one company to communicate with the driver of another
company. So, the ATA in conjunction with the Haul Road Safety
Committee put together a plan and a program whereby the ATA
acquired licenses for 12 different frequencies. Another
organization of just motor carriers recently convened to
consider different issues.
He said it's important to remember that the trucking industry is
one of the most heavily regulated industries in the country. It
probably spends much more than the state on safety, because that
is where they work every day.
1:35:00 PM
SENATOR EGAN said road delineators were a number-one priority
when he went up there in 2010 and asked why almost $3 million
was spent on delineators that were white in color. What happens
in the white-out condition?
MR. THOMPSON said he didn't have an answer.
1:36:14 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE said that vehicle counts and weights had gone up
pretty steadily and asked if the major operators had considered
funding enforcement through a self-imposed toll or any other
kind of agreement.
MR. THOMPSON said he wasn't aware of any. He also wasn't sure
that the number of trucks and weights had increased. The weight
laws had been the same for years, but there probably had been an
increase in the number of permitted loads that have strict
guidelines created by the Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities (DOTPF).
CHAIR MICCICHE referenced a chart that indicated an increase in
commercial vehicles over 60,000 pounds.
MR. THOMPSON explained that that chart referred to the number of
trucks that are 60,000 pounds or more as measured at the Fox
weigh station, which is not open 24 hours a day. There can be
wide variations depending on how often it is open.
CHAIR MICCICHE said the chart clearly shows that four months in
2014 had 871, 937, 1163, and 1061 vehicles over 60,000 pounds,
more than in the last two years.
MR. THOMPSON admitted that was true, but counting vehicles in
the same timeframe for earlier years would have resulted in
similar numbers.
CHAIR MICCICHE said that he wanted a comprehensive traffic flow
and weight pattern over the last decade.
MR. THOMPSON replied that that is one of the primary reasons why
they want survey data developed for the Dalton Highway.
SENATOR STEDMAN asked why there was zero traffic over 60,000
pounds in March.
CHAIR MICCICHE mentioned that the data reflects the hours the
Fox weigh station was open and mentioned that if you are
overweight and know the hours of operation, you can just wait to
go through until it is closed.
MR. THOMPSON explained that this chart reflects the trucks that
were there when the weigh station was open.
1:41:55 PM
SENATOR STEDMAN asked if there had been any noticeable traffic
increases due to Pt. Thomson.
MR. THOMPSON replied, anecdotally, yes.
1:42:25 PM
ALAN HOZA, Project Specialist, Alaska West Express, Fairbanks,
Alaska, said he is a former driver and does safety officer
training. He observed that Alaska is concerned about access to
resources and the Dalton Highway is the access for nearly all
levels of supply to and from the top resource for the state. The
state must not underfund this supply line to the North Slope oil
and gas fields. The safety of those using the Dalton to supply
the North Slope along with those using the highway for every
purpose from subsistence hunting to tourism requires a constant
level of maintenance and improvements.
He explained that in general, the DOTPF maintenance crews
currently work primarily day-time shifts. However, many of the
materials needed to keep the oil field resource engine producing
need to keep moving up the Dalton on nearly a constant basis. It
is often used twice as many hours as the maintenance crews
operate. Adverse weather conditions encountered along the Arctic
corridor at times makes it very difficult to keep those
materials moving. Severe conditions often risk the safety of
those Alaskans driving the Dalton due to the limited maintenance
hours of operation. This is why the ATA carriers are promoting
24/7 maintenance on it.
He said the DOTPF maintenance facilities were placed about 60
miles apart in strategic locations, but that is quite far apart.
The crews go in both directions, so it effectively becomes twice
the distance. Therefore, critical sections of the Dalton are
severely neglected, because of the vast distances between DOTPF
camps. If those sections are neglected due to the severity of
the extreme Arctic conditions it can take many hours to open
drifted or avalanche-closed sections of the road.
1:46:24 PM
The proposed 10 percent cuts would drastically affect the
current level of maintenance and larger cuts could lead to
unacceptable road closures and potentially more accidents and/or
spills. It could even lead to oil facility shutdowns. Even now
there are times during winter storms when crews are unable to
keep the roads plowed and sanded leaving trucks to fend for
themselves or simply cease movement due to impassability. Even
the shortest road closures can easily result in backups of 30-50
trucks.
MR. HOZA said he had been driving the Dalton Highway on and off
since 1981 and it is not a comfortable feeling sitting on the
bottom of a hill with a truck blocking the road or to be waiting
miles from any services for hours or days for winds to stop
blowing in areas that are plugged with snow drifts.
If the amount of Dalton traffic is the major consideration for
funding allotments, then the number of vehicles is less
important than the type of traffic, and though there are
comparatively low numbers of vehicles on the Dalton, that
traffic consists of mostly trucks.
Much of the Dalton Highway is built on some very unstable ground
and that in addition to heavy industrial traffic leads to a need
to maintain that road on an ongoing basis just to keep it from
falling into disrepair. He urged, "For the safety and materials,
people and environment, we would contend that the maintenance
and operations funding the Dalton should not be cut."
Projects such as milepost 0 to 9-mile reconstruction, currently
under STIP, are critical to the continued improvement of the
road which improves its safety for all traffic.
MR. HOZA said current capital projects such as Pt. Thomson and
Alpine CD-5 are critical to growth, which is why oil companies
have gone forward in spending capital monies in Alaska. Road
improvements and maintenance directly support these projects.
The DOTPF Northern Region group has done a great job of
consulting with the transportation industry, focusing on
continued improvement and maintenance on the Dalton. The Haul
Road Safety Committee meetings are held in Fairbanks to discuss
projects, maintenance and safety between the groups using the
road. Everyone from USDOT to the Alaska Trucking Association,
Commercial Motor Vehicles, the DOTPF Northern Reconstruction
group, DOTPF maintenance groups, BLM, and the UAF attend the
meetings. Some say that the Dalton has functioned fine for the
last 40 years, but that is only due to the increased
reconstruction and ongoing maintenance.
1:51:36 PM
There has been some cultural change over the years, Mr. Hoza
said, and he participates in a training center. He was asked by
a seasoned driver to create a class to orient new drivers to not
just Haul Road safety but Haul Road etiquette and try to regain
some of that culture and camaraderie the road used to have.
MR. HOZA said the 12,000 delineators are white. But a couple of
years ago, they found that many colors were much better than
white, but got some federal push-back on that issue. He
understood that white delineators were found to illuminate the
roadway in the darker hours, but in an extreme blow situation
the old white on right and yellow on left more quickly showed
you if you were going in the wrong direction.
1:55:01 PM
MR. HOZA said the March issue sounded like a weight restriction
timeframe; many of the loads are lighter that time of year. It's
a six-week timeframe and customers push them to haul more per
load because of economics.
1:55:54 PM
ROGER BROWN, Dispatch Manager, Carlile Enterprises, Anchorage,
Alaska, said the Dalton Highway corridor is increasingly being
used by tourism. He said Carlile sends an average of 30 loads a
day up the Dalton and more this time of year. They support all
major oil field operations and haul everything from the
buildings the workers live in to the groceries they eat, the
vehicles and equipment they operate and the fuel used to run
them.
MR. BROWN said the Dalton Highway corridor is the sole over-land
link to the oil fields and has increasingly become a tourist
destination. Hunters can be found at nearly any time of the year
from one end to the other. New driver turnover is making
training increasingly difficult.
He said the state can help increase efficiencies and provide a
safe environment by doing maintenance and infrastructure.
Transportation is a 24/7 operation and 24/7 maintenance and
upkeep is needed. The major issue this time of year is the
inclement weather, but in the summer it will go weeks without
maintenance and it falls apart really quickly; a lot of it has
to do with weight and speed. It's too narrow in many places and
the edge is not well defined. Five instances of trucks going off
the road have happened over the last 48 hours. Traffic meets in
a narrow section of the road and one guy is too afraid to get
too close to the edge because he can't tell where it is and then
the other guy gets over too far.
Over the last few years, infrastructure has become more of an
issue, not for the regulars, but for other people who don't know
where the pullouts are and don't know the risk of just parking
in the middle of the road. More pullouts are needed so people
don't stop in the middle of the road.
During the peak of hunting season there are a few Fish and
Wildlife Troopers that help keep traffic moving; the truckers
have radio communication with them. Increasing enforcement for
the 500-mile stretch of road that has none on a regular basis
would slow people down as would having a class for the new
drivers. The majority of safety concerns are from people not
knowing the unwritten rules that experienced drivers use.
MR. BROWN said the Richardson Highway has a new weigh station
with enforcement officers, which has been open not quite 24/7,
but 99 percent of the time for the last six months.
2:02:50 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE said they will be looking forward to getting
better data on the Dalton Highway.
2:06:25 PM
ART REED, Terminal Manager, Sourdough Express, Anchorage,
Alaska, said they are a statewide transportation carrier and a
major part of their business includes supplying goods of all
kinds to the North Slope oil field companies to support
construction, maintenance and merchandises for those working
there. They use the Dalton Highway daily and safety is always a
number one concern, not only for their employees but for all
others using the highway. They are very appreciative of the work
currently being done to keep the road open in a safe and
operable condition. He stressed the need for that to continue.
One area of concern that is still brought up regularly by
operators on the road is the delineators, Mr. Reed said. There
is always a need for more and a need for contrasting colors.
More pullouts are needed not only for rest areas, but for
putting on tire chains and making spot repairs. They would also
like to see an increase in enforcement and training of new
drivers.
He said a lot of time, the question that most comes up is in
regards to the quantity of trucks and/or trips on the road, and
collectively they try to provide the best answer they can, but
coming up with real numbers is difficult if not impossible if
just their organization, alone, is doing it.
CHAIR MICCICHE asked his vision of enforcement at a reasonable
cost without too much burden on the department or the industry.
MR. REED answered that some sort of roaming presence in
different areas would be very helpful, just so people know
someone is up there and spot checks, as well as keeping the Fox
weigh station open 24/7.
2:11:18 PM
DAN SMITH, Director, Measurement Standards and Commercial
Vehicle Enforcement (DSCVE), Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities (DOTPF), Juneau, Alaska, said a research
analyst pulled data together on permits, inspections and
violations from internal sources and other information from
outside the division.
The first issue was to open Fox weigh station 24/7. The DSCVE
has eight officers in the northern region. Presently, they have
two weigh stations and by this fall they will have four. They
have Fox and Ester, and around September the north-bound and
south-bound Richardson weigh stations will come on line. Fully
staffed, they have a plan for 24-hour operation of the Fox weigh
station. That would lead to two shifts at the Richardson North
and two shifts at the Richardson South, and three random shifts
at the Ester weigh station. Ester is primarily used at this time
of the year; it's a single-section scale, not a 100-foot deck
for large commercial vehicles, but one on which the axel weights
can be checked to come up with the overall gross weight of the
vehicle to make sure that when the weight restrictions are in
place that those vehicles are in compliance. Shifts are adjusted
to known shipping patterns and are mixed up so drivers don't
know when they are there.
Maintaining a roving enforcement presence on the Dalton:
currently the division in the northern region has one person
that works with Alaska State Troopers away from the weigh
station. He is trained in the use of radar and portable weights.
2:14:03 PM
MR. SMITH said an officer finally had his first trip all the way
up the Dalton this past summer; he had 43 contacts with people
and wrote several citations that were mostly for speeding. He
did a lot of education and outreach, but mainly he provided
enforcement presence along that corridor. In general, his
division is not the lead police agency in crash investigations.
They are called upon if the State Trooper doesn't have the
credentials to do the driver vehicle examination after a crash.
MR. SMITH said his division has a tremendous amount of turnover.
Last year they hired 10 people and 2 failed the initial
certification; out of the 8 that were left, 4 left within the
last year. Including attrition from other areas, they will be
running the North American Standard Part A and B with another 11
inspectors in the hopes of retaining those folks.
He said the commercial vehicle enforcement officer is an entry
level position and starts at a Range 12, Step A, position. When
that person gets to be able to do an inspection of a vehicle or
the driver on his own, he is flexed to the commercial vehicle
enforcement officer 2 level, a Range 14 position.
2:16:26 PM
MR. SMITH said the department took two years to write an
accurate job description and hopefully a job class study will
get done that will place these individuals into the proper
category so a high level of expertise can be maintained within
the commercial vehicle enforcement division. Right now 60
percent of folks are turning over at the entry level.
He said the division is also tasked with hazardous material,
dangerous goods, compliance review of carriers, and motor coach
inspections. So, there really is no incentive to go from level 1
to level 2 training. This is one thing the job class study could
remedy.
2:17:42 PM
MR. SMITH said the current survey data (Table 2) indicates that
19,000 permits were sold in 2014. He explained that size and
weight applies to everybody, so these could be folks who want to
tow their airplane floats down the road or have a vessel that is
over 8'6" wide, snow removal equipment and that sort of thing.
But the ones they have been able to identify 3,257 over-size
and/or over-weight permits for the Fox/Elliot area.
Table 3 indicates the total inspection count statewide for 2014
was a little over 6,000 vehicles, and the Dalton/Fox/Elliot
section is 1,113 that they know the load is going through that
area and a total of 1,256. They do very few inspections on the
Dalton, itself, and that number was 10. The Fox area has
roadside locations where signs can be set up and commercial
vehicles can be pulled over; that number was 223.
2:20:27 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE asked if all this work depends on one employee.
MR. SMITH answered no; the total number of inspectors is eight,
but there is just one for the Dalton Highway. He explained that
a close weigh station can be shut down and the person that is
normally on that shift can be used to work with the officer.
The vehicle out-of-service rate for the Dalton is 9.4 percent
and 11.3 percent for the Elliot; this is below the national
average. The driver out-of-service rate at 2 percent is much
lower than the national average.
CHAIR MICCICHE asked him to explain what vehicle and driver out-
of-service means.
MR. SMITH replied that is when the driver is stopped because of
an imminent hazard or danger to other drivers using the road. It
could be for intoxication or something like bad suspension parts
that could lead to a crash.
CHAIR MICCICHE asked if that number is increasing with the less-
experienced drivers.
MR. SMITH replied that he didn't have that information, but
would get it.
He said there are 374 driver violations for the Dalton Highway
and a total of 417 for the entire Fox/Elliot/Dalton. Hazmat and
vehicle violations are 258 for the Dalton and 344 for the entire
area. These numbers are actually different than in other parts
of the state. Generally, vehicle violations are higher than
driver violations. That tells them something is going on with
driver behavior that is leading to more violations. The number-
one unsafe practice by drivers was speeding.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked the posted speed limit on the Dalton
Highway.
MR. SMITH answered that it varies, but generally it's 50 mph.
Driver citations were for 59-69 mph.
SENATOR DUNLEAVY asked the fastest one could go legally on the
Dalton.
MR. SMITH said he didn't know that.
2:24:13 PM
SENATOR MICCICHE asked if there is a posted speed limit that
varies in different sections.
MR. SMITH apologized that he didn't have that answer and
explained that the primary focus of their enforcement is at
fixed weigh stations and, other than the one trip with one
officer, they have very little data.
2:24:58 PM
MR. SMITH said 80 citations were written in the Dalton/Elliot
area in 2014 for a total of just under 100 citations. The crash
data was interesting, he said, because the lead police agency
for federally reported crashes had two years to get it back to
him. No police agency normally takes the lead on the Dalton, and
the department that seems to have the best information is the
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Hazmat spills of
more than 1 gallon need to be reported and those are usually the
only information he gets on crashes on the Dalton Highway other
than the ones that are federally reportable, which means that
there was a fatality or injury or that the vehicle was towed
from the scene.
CHAIR MICCICHE remarked that there was a clear absence of crash
data and that many incidents are not reported.
MR. SMITH agreed and said the CMV data for vehicles over 60,000
pounds, however useful, may not be as accurate as they would
like, because it is drawn from their weigh-in-motion (WIM)
devices that live in the highway. Some trucks are very close
together and it may count two as just one vehicle and the
devices have to be hit straight on in order to provide a valid
weight.
CHAIR MICCICHE asked if all the data from 2012-14 was collected
consistently.
MR. SMITH replied that it was, other than the fact that the WIMs
go down from time to time and need to be serviced or calibrated.
He said the Fox vehicle count is from the static weights and it
counted 233 overweight vehicles in 2014; they may or may not
have had a permit. The total number of WIM vehicles is trending
upwards and is now over 70,000 every year. Interestingly, he
started out by saying they sold 3,054 permits, but the Fox WIM
data shows 13,000 overweight WIMs in that area. So, much like
industry, he thinks an enforcement presence is needed. The
department understands the importance of protecting the
infrastructure and have the tools to do it and hope to be
successful by attracting and retaining better CM enforcement
officers.
2:31:02 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE asked if they are permitting 25 percent of the
total overweight vehicles.
MR. SMITH answered that is what the WIM data shows.
SENATOR EGAN asked if he was getting better measuring equipment,
as well.
MR. SMITH answered yes; they are using some pretty amazing
technologies to come up with the data like automatic vehicle
identification, license plate readers and products that provide
3-D modeling so that before the vehicle comes in sight the weigh
station has a picture of it, knows the carrier, the weight, and
whether it can bypass the weigh station. And it's getting better
every year.
2:33:29 PM
KRISTIN RYAN, Director, Division of Spill Prevention and
Response (SPAR), Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC),
Anchorage, Alaska, said they are trying to coordinate better
with DOTPF's Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division, because
they aren't always aware of the responses SPAR is a part of.
SPAR had about 77 events in the last 10 years on the Dalton
Highway that resulted in a spill. About 17,000 gallons of fuel
had been released as a result of those spills. A majority of the
accidents were caused by equipment failure - tire blow out or
breakdown - and rollovers. A spill of 3,000 gallons happened
just yesterday. Last year there were nine spills on the Dalton
Highway, the highest number of all the highways.
CHAIR MICCICHE asked the total gallons for the last 10 years.
MS. RYAN answered 17,500 gallons and that doesn't include the
3,000 from yesterday.
SENATOR EGAN clarified that was on just the Dalton.
MS. RYAN answered yes.
CHAIR MICCICHE asked what types of materials are spilled
primarily.
MS. RYAN replied that it's mostly low sulphur diesel going to
the North Slope and 70 gallons of hazardous substance release.
2:36:27 PM
SENATOR EGAN said a staff member just texted him that the Dalton
Highway maximum speed limit is "50 for the 416 miles," but there
are areas where the speed limit is reduced to 10-20 mph.
2:37:40 PM
CHAIR MICCICHE said this was very good information and that he
may put a letter together with some questions and start a
dialogue on some ways to improve safety on the Dalton. Finding
no further business, he adjourned the Senate Transportation
Committee meeting at 2:37 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Dalton Highway Map Enlarged.pdf |
STRA 2/26/2015 1:00:00 PM |
|
| DOT Dalton Highway Information.pdf |
STRA 2/26/2015 1:00:00 PM |
|
| DOT Alaska Fox Weigh Station - CMVs over 60000 lbs..PDF |
STRA 2/26/2015 1:00:00 PM |
|
| Senate Transportation Dalton Highway Hearing.pdf |
STRA 2/26/2015 1:00:00 PM |
|
| Dalton Highway Project Summary.pdf |
STRA 2/26/2015 1:00:00 PM |
|
| DOT Response to Senate Transportation Committee Hearing on 2.26.15.pdf |
STRA 2/26/2015 1:00:00 PM |