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Pioneer Roads Task Force Passes House
HB 8 Seeks Economic Development Through Transportation Projects

For Immediate Release: February 14, 2001

Contact: Representative Norman Rokeberg at (907) 465-4968

(JUNEAU) -- Alaska would begin evaluating the benefits of building new roads to spur new economic development under a bill passed today by the House of Representatives.

House Bill 8, sponsored by Rep. Norman Rokeberg (R-Anchorage), would create a "Legislative Pioneer Road Development Task Force," charged with identifying roads and road upgrades important to Alaska's economic future, ranking them by feasibility and benefit, seeking funding sources and advocating for construction. The effort is long overdue, he said.

"I introduced this bill out of some frustration that we have not created any new roadways or opened up any new areas for development in Alaska for a long, long time," Rokeberg said. "It's absolutely necessary for us to build the transportation infrastructure needed to develop this state."

The bill provides for a 14-member task force of representatives of many industries and groups interested in new roads, including truckers, engineers, fishermen, Natives, rural residents and legislators. The bill calls for them to evaluate about two dozen roads in mostly rural Alaska, then report back to the Legislature before March 2002.

Many of the roads the bill lays out for study have been discussed by previous legislatures, Rokeberg said, but bureaucratic inertia and resistance to new construction made it necessary to jump-start the process.

"House Bill 8 is intended to raise the public awareness of and generate some interest in road development and economic development, particularly in the rural areas of this state," Rokeberg said. "There's no guarantee that any or all of these roads will ultimately be built. But I can guarantee that none of them will ever get built if we don't get this effort underway sooner rather than later."

The bill passed the House 30-6, with four members excused or absent. Notice of reconsideration was given.

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Attachments:

• Sponsor Statement for CSHB 8
• Sectional Analysis for CSHB 8
• Print Friendly Version
  Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 1 page - 61 K

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= Norman Rokeberg, 94 K = Jim Whitaker, 26 K
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