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As flaggers, backed by flashing red lights, directed traffic across narrowed single lanes on Ninilchik and Deep Creek bridges, representatives from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Mowat, the contractor doing the work, met with Ninilchik residents Thursday afternoon.

An explanation of the project, solutions for those impacted by the work and the importance of meeting with residents prior to beginning projects was the subject of the four-hour open house scheduled by DOT.

"Professionals have to understand that the public has to be part of this," Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Dave Carey told Rick Feller, DOT public relations liaison.

Noting the inability "get the last two weeks back," a reference to DOT's lack of communication with area business owners, residents and Sterling Highway motorists, Feller agreed that notifying the public was important.

"A level of public trust has to be regained and we will try to do that," Feller said.

Although Ninilchik residents had been notified that bridge resurfacing would be done this summer, the subject of lane-width restrictions had never surfaced. When the open southbound lane on Ninilchik bridge limited vehicles to widths of 10 feet, 6-inches, fishing charter operators, emergency responders and others impacted by the restriction were caught off-guard.

As work progressed to Deep Creek, the southbound lane on that bridge was narrowed to 11 feet.

Among those surprised by the restriction was Debby Henderson of Ninilchik Traditional Council, who needed a 12-foot width to return a leased ATCO unit to the Wasilla area.

Concerned about a potential late fee of several thousand dollars and needing a 48-hour window during which a truck from Wasilla could get to Ninilchik, the ATCO unit could be loaded and driven back across the bridge to Wasilla, Henderson attended the Thursday meeting, seeking a solution.

"They were real supportive," Henderson said of efforts by DOT. "We're going to have the full width of the bridge on May 28. I don't know about everybody else, but I'm set."

Herb Down also was at the meeting. His plans to develop a gravel pit south of Deep Creek were threatened by the project because equipment needed by Downs is north of Ninilchik River.

"They're opening up to wide loads the first week of June, so that will accommodate me," Downs said, after seeing the project timeline posted at Thursday's meeting. "I think they realized they screwed up and they better do something to fix it."

Safety concerns caused by the lane restrictions came to the forefront recently when volunteer emergency medical technicians were delayed from responding to a heart attack victim.

At Thursday's meeting, Mike Chihuly, Ninilchik Emergency Services fire chief and fishing charter operator, worked with DOT Project Manager Bob Lundell to secure blue lights for responders' vehicles. The lights would visually alert flaggers at the bridges of the need to get the vehicles across the bridges. Radios also were being secured to help close the communication gap.

"I think we're finally getting there," Chihuly said of addressing NES concerns.

For Paul Simonds of Inlet View Construction, Thursday's meeting came too late to change the project's impact to his business. Simonds said when he asked project personnel about the project, he was told traffic delays would not be an issue.

Now, however, with gravel bringing $110 a load, the resulting delays limit the number of loads Simonds can deliver. Had he known, Simonds said, he would have staged gravel north of Ninilchik River prior to the project beginning.

"I'm not going to say we did everything right," Feller said of communicating with the public. "We had some problems with this."

To that, Simonds replied, "The impact of this is like a natural disaster. Except it isn't (a natural disaster). It's been in the planning for two years."

With a large volume of traffic expected to be on the Sterling Highway for Memorial Day weekend, Feller said flaggers would be posted round the clock on the north and south sides of the Ninilchik and Deep Creek bridges to help keep vehicles moving. He said the goal is to limit delays to no more than 10 minutes.

A timeline for the project shows both the north- and southbound lanes of Ninilchik and Deep Creek bridges open for traffic around the first week in June and the Fourth of July weekend. In July, Mowat begins resurfacing the Kasilof River bridge.

"Everybody from the governor's office on down has told us we will be off the bridges July Fourth and Labor Day," Lundell said. "We missed Memorial Day, but we'll make July Fourth and Labor Day."

McKibben Jackinsky can be reached at mckibben.jackinsky@homernews.com.