ANCHORAGE -- The Central Transfer Station will close for three weeks starting Tuesday, Aug. 14, for renovations to major infrastructure.
The Department of Solid Waste Services (SWS) will replace the transfer station tipping floor and commercial scales. The transfer station will reopen Sept. 4. Closure dates may be subject to change.
During the closure customers must bring all loads to Anchorage Regional Landfill located at 15500 E. Eagle River Loop Road. The landfill will open early to reflect transfer station operating hours.
SWS asks that residents plan accordingly due to the closure. Those found illegal dumping could face fines of more than $300.
The tipping floor is a crucial piece of Anchorage’s waste management infrastructure. Approximately 40 million pounds of garbage passes over the transfer station tipping floor each month on the way to Anchorage Regional Landfill. A 2015 study showed that up to five inches of the 8-inch floor have worn away in some parts.
Scales at the Central Transfer Station will also be replaced due to significant wear. They were last replaced in the late 1990s.
The total cost of improvements is $900,000.
These are incremental fixes to the transfer station, which was originally constructed in 1975. The Municipality has outgrown the facility, resulting in long customer wait times and other inefficiencies in service.
As the transfer station continues to age more closures will be needed that will last significantly longer than three weeks. SWS is currently working with consultants to identify long-term solutions to the transfer station, including options that look at building a facility on a new site. A new transfer station would mean shorter wait times for residents, improved public safety, increased recycling and waste diversion, and more cost-effective operations.
Those plans will be publicly available in early 2019.
For more information, contact Suzanna Caldwell, SWS Public Information Officer, at (907) 343-6275 or caldwellse@muni.org.
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