U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg kicked off a three-day tour of Alaska yesterday in the Northwest Arctic community of Kotzebue. It was his first time visiting the 49th state.
Sen. Dan Sullivan joined Buttigieg in Kotzebue. They met with statewide aviation leaders to discuss challenges in rural Alaska ranging from airport infrastructure to air freight to supply chain issues.
Buttigieg spent part of the afternoon touring the Cape Blossom Road, a decades-long project to connect Kotzebue with a planned deep-water port. In a van ride along the road, Buttigieg said talking to community leaders was critical to understanding how higher costs factor into federal spending on rural infrastructure.
“The answers that make sense in New York City or South Bend, Indiana, where I grew up, are different than what works in a place like this region, or for that matter, of a place like Anchorage,” Buttigieg said.
Brice Inc., working with the Alaska Department of Transportation, recently wrapped up the first phase of the Cape Blossom road, which makes up a little less than half of the 11-mile project. The road is supported by local and state funds, as well as a $5 million dollar federal investment. Because the road is constructed on permafrost, it has to be insulated to keep the ground cool, especially as the region's climate continues to warm.
Buttigieg said the road was just one example of the Arctic’s unique infrastructure challenges.
“To see how much goes into creating a mile of road here, to see the vision that the community has for how to expand access to deepwater port, to understand what the barging process does to the cost of living and the cost of construction, all of that has been extremely informative,” he said.
After touring the road, Buttigieg returned to Kotzebue for a potluck and meet-and-greet event before touring Kotzebue’s airport to meet with Federal Aviation Administration employees.
Buttigieg visited Anchorage today for a tour of the Port of Alaska. The transportation secretary is scheduled to travel to the Southeast communities of Haines, Skagway and Juneau tomorrow. Sen. Lisa Murkowski will join Buttigieg for that leg of the trip. The two are scheduled to tour an Alaska Marine Highway System terminal and ferry during the Skagway stop.
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