(The Center Square) – Read through 60 years of Kenai, Alaska’s city council minutes and you will find concerns about erosion at the bluff of the Kenai River, the city’s mayor said.
The city has included it as their number one capital priority for decades. Now, the city has the funding for the Kenai Bluff Stabilization Project to remedy the problem.
City officials signed an agreement with the Department of the Army to construct 5,000 feet of linear rock on the river’s north bank that should stabilize the bluff. The funding comes from the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2021, which allocated $37.5 million, according to a news release from the city. The state is providing $9.7 million.
The contract will allow the Army to begin securing contractors. Construction will start in 2024, according to the city’s news release.
“The signing of this agreement has been decades in the making,” said Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who attended the signing on Monday. “I commend our congressional delegation, state legislators, local elected leaders and many Alaskan residents on the Kenai who have been persistent in their pursuit of this project for so many years.”
