Looking west across the Pretty Rocks slide area in September 2021/NPS

Funding has been dedicated by the Interior Department to quickly move forward with repairing a section of the Denali Park Road that was lost to the Pretty Rocks landslide in Denali National Park.

Back in October park officials said the slides that have occurred in the area between milepost 44 and milepost 46 since the 1990s will require that about half of the 92-mile road will remain closed for the 2022 visitor season.

During the 1990s, the Pretty Rocks landslide caused small cracks in the road surface, but they increased to three-and-a-half inches per day by 2020. Of some 150 unstable sites on the Park Road, Pretty Rocks is the “problem child,” relentlessly encroaching even after it’s shored up, park geologist Denny Capps told the Traveler's Rita Beamish in 2019. 

On Thursday, the Interior Department said $25 million in funding had been obtained through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to "accelerate critical investments in a long-term solution to address" the landslide. Engineers for the National Park Service and Federal Highways Administration had said they think it will take a bridge across the Pretty Rocks slide area to keep the full length of the Denali Park Road open. Indeed, the proposed solution calls for a 400-foot-long steel bridge across part of the impacted area.

In addition to the construction of a bridge, the Polychrome Area Improvements project would also include the following actions:

• Excavation of uphill slopes
• Placement of excavated material on the slope below the road
• Slight road realignment and temporary widening of the road
• Construction of retaining walls and drainage improvements
• Creation of rockfall ditches and benches
• Rock scaling and/or installation of rock bolts and dowels
• Construction of a temporary platform for bridge assembly
• Construction of a partially buried retaining wall along approximately 1,000 feet of road

The Pretty Rocks area in Denali National Park/NPS

"This important investment will bolster community resilience and strengthen our response to the effects of climate change, while also increasing visitor access to Alaska’s treasured outdoors,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. “The construction of this project invests in Alaska’s vibrant outdoor recreation economy and will ensure access for future generations. We appreciate the Alaska congressional delegation’s leadership in the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which has made this investment in Denali National Park possible.”

National Park Service Director Chuck Sams added that addressing the road problem in Denali "is exactly the type of project the new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is intended to fund. We’ll be able to expand access to the outdoors, protect America’s public lands, and safeguard critical park infrastructure.”

Before work begins on a fix for public access past the Pretty Rocks landslide, Denali National Park needs to complete its planning through the Polychrome Area Improvements Environmental Assessment. The EA is now available for a 30-day public review and comment period until February 13. The NPS will also hold two virtual public meetings during the comment period. 

Under the proposed action included in the EA, the repair work would be conducted in two phases. During the first phase, which would last perhaps two years, road access would not be possible beyond the slide area, the document said. During the second phase, there would be some access through the area.

However, Interior officials said Thursday that engineers have "been working to identify funding and contracting opportunities to accelerate the overall project schedule, to begin phased work in 2022 and complete a permanent solution one year earlier than initially planned."

Along with spanning the Pretty Rocks slide area, the proposed work calls for "addressing Bear Cave Landslide, Perlite Landslide, and several rockfall areas because the safety of the road and reliable access to the 47 miles of the road west of the Pretty Rocks Landslide cannot be maintained without addressing all of these geohazards."

"The Park Road was originally built by the Alaska Road Commission (ARC) in the 1920s and 1930s, according to the EA. "The 92-mile road is mostly gravel, with only the first 15 miles paved; private vehicles are restricted west of the Savage River (Mile 15) from May 20 to mid-September."

“We look forward to getting started on a long-term solution at Pretty Rocks. During construction, visitors will continue to have access to great wildlife viewing, views of Denali, front-country trails and backcountry hiking and camping,” said acting Denali National Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell. “Denali is ready for visitors in 2022 and will continue to work with our neighbors, inholders and partners to ensure an unforgettable Denali experience throughout the construction phase.”

In addition to historic funding for climate resiliency initiatives and legacy pollution clean-up, the Infrastructure Law provides funding for climate resiliency and reauthorizes the Federal Lands Transportation Program for five years, which will help the NPS repair and upgrade its roads, bridges, trails and transit systems.