Brad Bylsma

This action plan outlines the strategic direction for the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities to address growing transportation needs amidst fiscal constraints. The plan focuses on strengthening maintenance and operations, supporting infrastructure development, and elevating strategic assets by aligning how the department operates and improving cross-functional support. Key priorities include streamlining work, reducing duplication, protecting frontline services, and modernizing processes. The overarching goal is to build a more resilient organization that protects assets, supports its workforce, and ensures Alaskans move safely across the state.

The Fairbanks International Airport (FAI) Community Outreach Plan, effective from December 2025, is designed to foster understanding, build partnerships, and highlight the airport's value to the local economy, quality of life, and global connectivity. Its mission is to communicate openly, engage thoughtfully, and involve meaningfully, ensuring transparency and positive relationships with stakeholders. The plan details strategies for both public-to-airport and airport-to-public communications, including required notices, public meetings, organizational engagements, and responses to inquiries. It also outlines the airport's public involvement activities, aiming to position FAI as a symbol of progress, opportunity, and connection for future generations.

The Strategic Highway Safety Plan for Alaska outlines a statewide roadmap to reduce deaths and serious injuries on public roads between 2023 and 2027. Key strategic areas include improving real-time traffic incident monitoring and response, investigating pedestrian and cyclist crash sites for preventative measures, implementing roadway design enhancements like Asphalt SafetyEdgeSM, and distributing reflective gear for vulnerable road users. The plan also focuses on enhancing first responder safety with innovative flare technology, updating driver education materials, establishing a Street Racing Task Force, promoting roadway safety best practices for tourism, and conducting public awareness campaigns on various traffic safety topics.

The Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board convened to discuss ferry operations, progress on strategic objectives from the 2045 Long-Range Plan (LRP), and the economic analysis of the proposed Cascade Point Terminal. The board found that changes were made to the Long-Range Plan without consultation, specifically regarding the Cascade Point Terminal. The board also expressed concerns that the economic analysis of the Cascade Point Terminal relied heavily on speculative externalities and that the project's advancement deviates from the Long-Range Plan, potentially leading to increased operational costs and the depletion of capital funds needed for existing terminals.

The Alaska Marine Highway System's 2045 Long-Range Plan serves as a 20-year roadmap to achieve a maintainable, reliable, sustainable, and resilient transportation system for coastal Alaska. The plan is structured around four key focus areas: providing safe, reliable, and connective service; modernizing fleet and terminal assets for resiliency and standardization; building and supporting a reliable workforce; and promoting financial efficiency and sustainability. It aims to ensure the system remains aligned with community needs, financially sustainable, and capable of providing increased service levels by 2045 through strategic investments and operational improvements.