The US General Services Administration is advancing plans to expand and modernize Alcan’s land port of entry outside Tok, Alaska. The agency recently released a final environmental impact statement and record of decision for the project, which officials estimate will cost between $170 million and $190 million.
Alcan is located at mile marker 1221 of the Alaska Highway and is the only 24-hour land port of entry serving both personal and commercial traffic entering mainland Alaska from Yukon, Canada, according to GSA. Officials say the 52-year-old facility can no longer effectively support operations, employee safety and on-site housing needs.
“Now that we have completed our environmental review, we can begin design work for the new port,” Sukhee Kang, regional administrator for GSA’s Northwest/Arctic region, said in a statement.
GSA plans to award a design-build contract for the work and begin construction in 2026 with a goal of achieving substantial completion by 2031.
The plan is to construct 129,145 square feet of buildings, including a new main operations building with upgraded technology to meet U.S. Customs and Border Protection security standards, plus an indoor shooting range, 18 units housing for employees and a recreation building.
GSA also plans to build three dual-purpose entry inspection lanes and a helipad, and renovate two of the existing buildings into auxiliary support space. The rest of the existing buildings would be demolished.
The work is likely to take six years due to Alaska’s short construction seasons and the need to keep the facility operational during the work. GSA officials have planned three phases, with site preparation over the first three years. The relocation and demolition of homes will occur in the second year. New construction would begin in the third year, and most of the new buildings would go up in the fourth and fifth years of the project.
GSA officials say the facilities will be “net zero emissions ready.” They aim to pursue the highest level of LEED certification possible within the project budget.
Funding for the work comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which included money for land port modernization, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which included money for low-carbon building materials in GSA projects. GSA awarded contracts for other land ports of entry in California and Arizona earlier this year.
