McCarthy residents say no more bollards please
By Bonnie Kenyon

  McCarthy: —Nearly the entire town of McCarthy came together on February 5th with one intent — one subject — BOLLARDS. Most of our readers have followed the saga of Alaska Department of Transportation’s determination to impose access restrictions on the infamous Kennicott River bridge and, once again, the resolve of some community members to remove those restrictions, namely bollards. Some call it “vandalism” but others see this tenacity as a passion to enable community residents and visitors safe and reliable access to and from our town.
  In the fall of 2002—long before river ice formed to provide vehicle or snowmachine crossing—DOT installed 4 stainless steel bollards. To many of us who live here throughout the winter, this was the worse time to install restrictions.
  I have lost count of the many posts or bollards that have been placed by DOT and continually removed by local residents, but the latest estimates I have heard, is, “It is at least 18 and could be as many as 21.”
  Shortly after the removal of DOT’s latest installation, a town meeting was called. “What do WE want?”
  McCarthy Lodge owners, Doug Miller and Neil Darish, offered the use of their place of business for the town to gather with the opportunity to again look at this challenging subject of bollards or no bollards.
  Thirty-three residents—most of whom had already decided what they desired and needed— turned out to sign one of two petitions:
  1) We, the residents of McCarthy, Alaska, assembled this day at a town meeting at McCarthy, Alaska, request the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities INSTALL MORE BOLLARDS TO PREVENT ATV OR SNOWMACHINE TRAVEL ACROSS THE KENNICOTT RIVER BRIDGE. Please take whatever action is necessary to accomplish this request.
  2) We, the residents of McCarthy, Alaska, assembled this day at a town meeting at McCarthy, Alaska, request that the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities REFRAIN FROM INSTALLING ANY MORE BOLLARDS OR OTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO TRAVEL ACROSS THE KENNICOTT RIVER BRIDGE. Please take whatever action is necessary to accomplish this request.
  Twenty-nine people chose to sign. Four attendees abstained from signing either petition. Petition #2 received all 29 signatures. Petition #1 received no signatures at all.
  Within the body of each petition was a place for the signers name and address. Two questions were asked of each signer: Do you own property in the McCarthy area? and How many months of the past 12 were you present in the McCarthy area?
  Question No. 1 brought a “yes” answer from ALL signers. All signers were property owners in the McCarthy area.
  Question No. 2 revealed 24 of the 29 signers were present in the McCarthy area for the past 12 months. Three signers for 11 months of the year. Two signers for 4 months.
  Two family members of those in attendance who could not make the meeting submitted signed letters in favor of Petition No. 2.
  Two of the 29 signers were minors, Kaleb and David Rowland, who make use of the bridge several times a week. These two young men are very vocal in their support for leaving the bollards out and were given permission by their mother to add their names along with the others.
  Knowing I was planning to write up this meeting in the Wrangell St. Elias News, I decided to not enter into the discussion but listen—really listen—to what my neighbors were saying. What I heard from the majority of those who participated in the open discussion, were remarks such as:

•

We need to get some unity. We need to come together. Love one another and enjoy each other.

•

There needs to be freedom for neighbors to come and go.

•

More violence occurs with the bollards in than when they are out.

•

The bollards present a “keep out sign” to visitors and locals alike. They are unfriendly and ugly in appearance.  Change is necessary.

•

We need to come and go for things such as mail, propane, supplies.

•

The bridge with bollards may have been a good idea at the time but it is clear that this situation is just not working.

•

Summer residents aren’t here to face the winter hardships.

•

We need to inform the National Park Service, DOT and Governor Murkowski what we want.

Although bollards were the reason for the town meeting, the subject of a privately-owned service bridge came up for discussion. Kelly Bay, year-round resident and business owner of Wrangell Mountain Air and Wrangell Mountain Bus, sees the bollard issue as being unsolvable. A service bridge would be a win-win situation for all concerned. Forget the footbridge and pursue the service bridge.

Keith Rowland along with his wife Laurie have purchased property on both sides of the Kennicott River for the primary purpose of building their own bridge. The Rowland family own and operate Rowcon Services which provides a variety of much-needed dirt work, septic systems, roads, etc. to our local area. The extreme danger to equipment and operators have already been costly. Keith is presently applying for the proper permits from the US Army Corps of Engineers to build a service bridge. Although it seems a proper bridge should be a project for our Alaska DOT, because there doesn’t seem to be any sign of DOT’s assistance, Keith has decided to take matters into his own hands. Laurie addressed the town residents: “Keith and I are putting in a bridge on private property with private funds. We see this service bridge as a compromise for those of us who are full-vehicle bridge proponents.”

The full-bridge proponents believe the right thing is for DOT to widen and deck the existing Kennicott River bridge to accommodate vehicles and provide adequate parking on the east side of the river. This might also include restrictions for traffic in the downtown areas of McCarthy and Kennicott.

In order to recoup the estimated cost of building the service bridge, the Rowlands will require a toll for local usage. The proposed bridge would be gated and require a pass or key by local users and would be a year-round access.

While most locals respect and are grateful for this project, some are adamant that this critical need for free, safe and reliable access is the sole responsibility of DOT.

As the town meeting came to a close, it was decided that the service bridge, along with local parking problems is a subject to be discussed in further detail and would be best served at a future town meeting scheduled for March 7th at noon at the McCarthy Lodge.

In the meantime, and with a very clear voice, this local town meeting answered the question, What do we want—bollards or no bollards? DOT, LEAVE THOSE BOLLARDS OUT!