State plans to reduce rockfall hazards along highway

The state Transportation Department is asking for public comments on its plan to reduce the hazards along a stretch of Wrangell's Zimovia Highway frequently hit by rocks coming down from the hillside.

A rockfall last August at 8-mile Zimovia Highway "drew our attention" to the stretch of roadway, state Transportation Department officials said last week. Talking with the department's Wrangell crew, they learned there had been 36 rockfalls between 2007 and 2019 along just a few miles of the highway.

The department wants to get ahead of the problem with preventative work next year to take down so...