SJR 41-PAVING ALASKA HIGHWAY    SENATOR RANDY PHILLIPS, representing Senate District L, had received a call a few weeks earlier asking for the introduction of this resolution for continuation in the Yukon of the Shakwak Project. SJR 41 requests the U.S. Congress to continue the funding to complete this segment of the Shakwak Project. MR. SCOTT KENT, Minister of Infrastructure, Yukon Government, said his job includes responsibility for the highways. He asked them to introduce this resolution designed to allocate the remainder of funds necessary to complete the Shakwak Project also known as the North Alaska Highway Project. The project goes from the Canada-Alaska border on the Haines Road to the Yukon-Alaska border on the Alaska Highway. The project covers 322 miles and began in 1977 through a joint United States and Canada agreement. MR. KENT explained the original project called for a paved all weather road from Haines, Alaska up through Haines Junction and on to the Alaska border at Beaver Creek. All that remains, after st the current Transportation Equity Act for the 21 Century (TEA 21) of $85 million has been expended, will be approximately 18 miles along the shores of the Kluane Lake-Sheep Mountain area as well as the replacement of four major bridges. The total cost for the balance of highway construction and bridge replacement is expected to be in the neighborhood of $45 million. They asked the legislature to pass this resolution requesting Congress to administer those funds. The original proposal called for the highway to be paved. They have a BST surface on it now and paving would require additional expenditures in the amount of $160 million. That would be a future appropriation or a future Transportation Equity Act. MR. KENT said traffic on the North Alaska Highway north of Haines Junction is approximately 85% U.S. traffic. It is a very important corridor for tourism, commercial truck traffic and will be a very important highway to support the construction of an Alaska Highway natural gas pipeline. He said if the U.S. Government appropriated the remainder of funds they can reach substantial completion by 2006 on the 18 miles of road and the bridgework can be completed by 2008. There is a possibility of accelerating the project if they were to receive a positive announcement on the gas pipeline in the meantime. SENATOR WARD asked if this was appropriate to put comments in the resolution concerning a future Alaska natural gas line. SENATOR PHILLIPS thought that was being taken care of in other pieces of legislation. He asked if Senator Ward meant in conjunction. SENATOR WARD said as one of the whereas clauses. SENATOR PHILLIPS said he would not mind if the committee did not mind. SENATOR WARD said he did not want to slow the resolution up. He hadn't thought about it until Mr. Kent mentioned it. SENATOR PHILLIPS said BST stands for Bituminous Surface Treatments known as poor man's asphalt. CHAIRMAN COWDERY said that is not done with a lay down machine. That is an emulsion that is mixed with the material that is there and then possibly rolled. th SENATOR PHILLIPS said it is about 1/10 the cost of regular asphalt. MR. KENT said it allows the highway to settle and if they decide to go ahead the asphalt paving can be done over the top of the BST. CHAIRMAN COWDERY asked if all but one stretch of the highway was going to be completed. MR. KENT said after the current appropriation is exhausted in 2003 all but 18 miles and the four bridge replacements will be taken care of. SENATOR WILKEN thanked Mr. Kent for being there. He appreciated Senator Phillips bringing the resolution forward and was fully supportive. SENATOR WILKEN said the people of Fairbanks benefit by having that road improved every year. They have a commercial semi truck that runs between Beaverton, Oregon and Fairbanks on a round robin bringing bread products to Fairbanks. It is cheaper bringing it that way than bringing it by sea with Sealand. That road being improved made it possible for those truckers to make that trip quicker and with less maintenance. He thought that was a wonderful stretch of road, which helped the people of Fairbanks and Yukon because it is a gorgeous drive. He was fully supportive of this resolution and hoped they would move it through the legislature and on to the U.S. Congress. SENATOR ELTON thanked Mr. Kent. He said the connection they have in Southeast Alaska to the Yukon Territory and points further north in Alaska are very important to Southeast Alaska. He was supportive of the resolution. SENATOR ELTON thanked him on behalf of Juneau. Whitehorse is a sister city and when he was on the Juneau Assembly in the late 1980's they actually stole the BST technology from the Yukon. They have used it extensively in Juneau as a low cost way of reducing dust and mud. SENATOR TAYLOR said one important aspect of the last series of Shakwak funding by the federal government should be noted on the record. Is that one condition of that funding has always been that the - that when those contracts were placed for bid those contracts could be bid upon by any company either Canadian or American. And that it's my understanding that the Canadian companies were successful in achieving and underbidding on those things and did actually get the work, which I'm happy about because we got more road for fewer dollars. But I think it is essential that we note that that probably will continue to be a condition and do you have any problem with that? MR. KENT said no, certainly not at all. They had just finished the first tender for this year's Shakwak project. The contract had not been awarded but the bids were in and a number of bids were from companies not only from the Yukon but from British Columbia and Alberta. No bids were received from Alaskan companies but any of the terms and conditions applied to the tendering process could be carried on into the next appropriation as well. SENATOR TAYLOR thought a very healthy aspect of the funding mechanism was that no one was precluded from bidding. It clearly demonstrated a wonderful working relationship between two foreign nations who can reach hands across the border and be able to accomplish a project that both desperately want to have done and do it without the parochialism of local squabbling over who gets the work and how the work gets done. He felt that said a great deal about the people of Yukon and Canada in general. He wanted that point on the record. MR. KENT thought this was a great example of cooperation between their two jurisdictions and their two nations on a project that not only benefits Alaskans but benefits Canadians as well. MR. KENT said the Yukon and Canadian Governments have been doing their share on the south of Haines Junction portion of the road with upgrades. This year they are going to continue the upgrades around the Champaign area by taking the corners out and straightening and widening it as they carry on towards Haines Junction and they will continue to do so. SENATOR WILKEN moved to report SJR 41 from committee with individual recommendations and attached zero fiscal note. There being no objection the motion carried.