Just as the road-repaving project is wrapping up, a new road construction project is about to get underway.

Knik Construction outlined its plan for extending the airport runway at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. According to project manager Greg Kelley, the company will start moving materials next week, with the goal of finishing up the first phase of the project by November 1. That phase will include moving Ballyhoo Road out into Iliuliuk Bay and could involve some traffic delays, although Kelley promised they would be minor.

The project’s major impact will be the closure of Tundra Drive, the road leading out to the gun range. Kelley says the road will be closed to both car and foot traffic through the fall and then again next summer. He says the company is working with the gun club to arrange times for members to go shooting. Hikers will have to access Ballyhoo Mountain from the Fort Mears side.

Kelley says he tried to get around the road closure, but that it wasn't possible. Knik will be hauling fill from the end of the road over to the project site and Kelley says that means constant truck traffic on the one-lane road.