Following multiple recent wildfires in the Caswell Lakes area, residents have recognized the importance of more than one access road. But they have gotten little traction in moving a project forward.
The Montana Creek Fire this summer was the smallest by far at a little more than 150 acres, but residents remember recent larger fires that also impacted the community. The McKinley Fire in 2019 burned more than 50 homes and 3,000 acres. The Sockeye Fire in 2015 burned more than 7,000 acres and more than 55 structures.
Evacuations in the Caswell Lakes area are difficult with only one access road. Multiple smaller subdivisions all connect to Hidden Hills Road off the Parks Highway. Mat-Su Borough Road Services Area 15 Chair DJ McBride says all the residents use that single access point.
RSA Board Member and former Borough District 7 Assemblymember Tam Boeve (BOW-vee) says there are now more than 2,000 permanent residents in Caswell Lakes. She estimates there are about 75 miles of roads throughout the area.
After the Sockeye Fire, Boeve and Borough staff looked at three other potential egress routes. But without state and federal funding, nothing moved forward.
McBride says the feasibility study has been on the RSA 15 list of priority projects, but it has not been funded. She says the Board estimates about $150,000 to complete that study. It could be used to request State and Federal funding to build the additional egress routes.
Even a basic two-lane gravel road will be a challenge, according to McBride. She says with rights-of-way, negotiations with government and potential tribal entities, bridges, and culverts, the project will be both complex and costly. McBride says the community has been lucky so far with no human lives lost to the wildfires.
The RSA 15 Board meets Monday, August 12 at Sheep Creek Lodge at 6:30 pm.
