Public works committee asks staff to refine Main Street plan with 9-foot shared-use path

The Skagway Municipality Public Works Committee voted Tuesday to ask staff to prepare a refined Main Street rehabilitation design that centers on a 9-foot mixed-use asphalt path with no separate sidewalk and to present Concept 4B as a less intensive alternative to the full assembly. The request passed on a voice vote after committee discussion and public comment.

The action follows a staff presentation that outlined four design concepts and a packet of survey results assembled by municipal staff. Tyson, the project presenter, told the committee the driving need for any rebuild is failing subsurface infrastructure — sewer, storm drains and the road subbase — and that those underground costs will be incurred regardless of surface layout. "We're not trying to redo Main Street just to get a bike or, you know, shared use path or bike path," Tyson said. "We've got failing infrastructure, subsurface infrastructure. That's what's driving the project."

Rebecca, who compiled the public survey, told the committee the outreach returned…