Government
GSA Approves Modernization of Alaska-Canada Land Port of Entry
The Alcan Land Port of Entry is the only 24-hour facility serving traffic entering Alaska from Yukon, Canada.
Photo courtesy U.S. General Services Administration
The U.S. General Services Administration is advancing plans to expand and modernize the Alcan 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 milepost 1221 on 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 the work of designing 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 start construction in 2026 with the goal of achieving substantial completion in 2031.
The plan is to build 129,145 sq ft of buildings, including a new main operations building with updated technology to meet U.S. Customs and Border Protection security standards, plus an indoor firing range, 18 housing units for employees and a recreation building.
GSA also plans to build three dual-purpose inbound inspection lanes and a helicopter landing zone, and to renovate two of the existing buildings to convert into auxiliary support space. The other existing buildings would be demolished.
Work would likely be done over six years because of Alaska’s short construction seasons and the need to keep the facility operating during work. GSA officials have planned three phases, with site preparation occurring over the first three years. Housing relocation and demolition would occur in the second year. New construction would start in third year, with most of the new buildings going up in the fourth and fifth years of the project.
GSA officials say the facilities will be “net-zero emissions ready.” They aim to seek the highest level of LEED certification possible within the project’s budget.
Funding for the work is coming from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which included money for land port of entry modernization, and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which included money for low-embodied carbon construction materials in GSA projects. GSA awarded contracts for other land ports of entry in California and Arizona earlier this year.
