Mr. Scott Korbe, with the City of Whittier, states the project purpose is to improve access to federal and state lands, alleviate pressure on Whittier’s regional transportation system, and realize potential economic growth.  Specifically, the project is focused on providing access to federal and state coastal lands and uplands along Passage Canal, on Trinity Point, and within Prince William Sound; and provide access to City land for recreation and development.  Work being proposed, project would result in the permanent discharge of up to approximately 74,000 cubic yards (CY) of fill material into approximately 12.9-acres of wetland and the discharge of up to approximately 1,010 CY of fill material into approximately 1.09-acres of streambed below the ordinary high-water mark.  Additionally, the proposed project would result in temporary impacts of up to approximately 220 CY of fill material into approximately 0.13-acre of wetland and streams.   The applicant proposes to extend the existing Shotgun Cove Road approximately 2.5-miles from its current terminus (mile 2.0) onto U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land at Trinity Point (mile 4.5), which includes, the construction of nine (9) new parking areas, eight (8) new spur/access roads, and minor safety improvements to two (2) portions of existing trail.    The new main road and spur roads would be composed of a layer of shot rock overlain by 20-inches of Type A selected material and 6-inches of grade E-1 aggregate surface course.  The new main road would have two (2) 10-foot wide gravel travel lanes and 5-foot wide gravel shoulders on each side.  The spur roads would have two (2) 9-foot wide gravel travel lanes.  The new parking areas would have capacities ranging from 8 to 50 cars and would be composed of a 16-inch shot rock gravel pad, overlain by 20 inches of type A selected material, and topped by 6 inches of grade E-1 aggregate surface course.  Trail safety improvements would be conducted along two (2) areas of the existing Emerald Cove Trail near proposed parking areas and would consist of adding a 12-inch layer of selected material over the trail while widening the trail to a width of 4-feet.  Due to the steep grade within portions of the project corridor, rock cut blasting and subgrade blasting techniques would be utilized.  Blasted rock material would be collected and used for embankments and roadway structural sections.  Culverted crossings with rock riprap at the outlet would be installed at major creeks and various small drainage features, including wetlands, along the length of the main road and spur roads.  Culvert diameters would range from 36 to 60 inches with larger culverts being installed at major crossings.  Four (4) major crossings were identified along the project corridor (i.e. Station 184+50, Station 186+50, east of Station 197+00, & west of Station 197+00) which would require the installation to culverts designed for resident fish passage.  A 60-inch diameter round corrugated metal pipe (CMP) culvert would be used at Stations 184+50 and 186+50, a 20-foot wide single radius arch culvert would be installed west of Station 197+00, and a 9-foot wide single radius arch culvert would be installed east of Station 197+00.  The project is estimated to commence in Spring 2022 and may take 5-10 construction seasons (i.e. years) to complete; not necessarily consecutive.  All work would be performed in accordance with the enclosed plan (Figures 1-45), dated June 2021.  The project site is located within Sections 3, 8, 9, & 17, T. 8N, R. 5E, at approximately Latitude 60.797732º N., Longitude 148.596515º W; in Whittier, Alaska.  From the Whittier Tunnel (Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel), continue onto W Camp Rd towards Whittier.  Turn right onto Whittier Street.  Continue onto Blackstone Rd.  Turn right onto Shotgun Cove Road.  Project begins at existing Shotgun Cove Road terminus (mile 2.0). Please contact Daniel Delgado at (907) 753-2586, toll free from within Alaska at (800) 478-2712, by fax at (907) 753-5567, or by email at:  Daniel.I.Delgado@usace.army.mil if further information is desired concerning this notice.
 

POA-2003-00764, Passage Canal_PN