Kuskokwim River Ice Road crews have plowed a road to Tuntutuliak for the first time in six years. The move is a boost for the community still rebuilding after destruction from the remnants of Typhoon Halong.
Ice road director Mark Leary called into KYUK’s "Talkline" show on Feb. 27 to share the news.
"This is the weather we've been waiting for. As of this morning, we have 280 miles of ice road established on the Kuskokwim River from Tuntutuliak to Chuathbaluk and all communities in between," Leary said.
Crews haven’t plowed the road roughly 40 miles beyond its normal southernmost point to reach Tuntutuliak since 2020. Leary said that local crews made the job easier, marking and measuring ice thickness along the route.
"All we had to do was follow their markers. We knew it was already measured, that it was safe," Leary said.
Before the Kuskokwim River had fully frozen, Leary said that the State Emergency Operations Center formally requested the road be extended to Tuntututliak to assist with disaster relief efforts following the October 2025 storm. In late January, the Alaska Department of Transportation transferred a surplus grader to the tribal entity that maintains the ice road to support the effort.
Jeremy Zidek, a spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, said on March 1 that state and tribal entities were determining the best way to use the ice road to move certain supplies that remain in Bethel.
Leary said that crews are on track to bring the total mileage of this year’s ice road close to the record.
"Once Crooked Creek and Napaimute finish plowing their area, we’ll have about 335, I think, miles," Leary said.
In 2020, the ice road stretched 355 miles after crews reached the middle river community of Sleetmute for the first time.
