Return to classrooms for some Anchorage students delayed by dangerous road conditions

The Anchorage School District canceled in-person classes and activities Tuesday due to hazardous road conditions across the area.

Tuesday was to have been the first day of in-person classes for most students in pre-kindergarten through second grade, and special education students in self-contained classrooms through sixth grade, since the pandemic shutdown in March.

“Rest assured, ASD is ready to bring its first phase of students back into buildings and is excited to see everyone tomorrow,” the district said in a Facebook post.

The weather service says Anchorage temperatures Tuesday will remain around the freezing point, with gradual clearing.

Conditions were roughly the same throughout Anchorage early Tuesday, said Paul Vanlandingham, the municipality’s street maintenance manager. The warmer temperatures Sunday and Monday led to melting snow and some areas with significant standing water, he said.

On Monday, street crews were grading the roads and clearing drains, Vanlandingham said. Crews will continue to work overnight, he said.

“Until the temperature stabilizes a little bit more, use a little bit more caution, extend your following distance a little bit,” Vanlandingham said. “But we’re pretty confident by tomorrow morning things should be back to I guess what would be our winter normal.”

On state-maintained roads throughout the city, travel was difficult, according to the Department of Transportation online roadmap. Roadways including Minnesota Drive, Tudor Road, Northern Lights Boulevard and the Seward and Glenn highways were described Tuesday morning as having an ice glaze with melting and packed snow, slush and a surface water hazard.