In 1938 Ernest Gruening, (one time territorial governor and later one of the first US Senators from Alaska) was working for the US Dept. of Interior and attempted to persuade the federal government to acquire the soon to close Copper River and Northwestern Railway and the Kennecott Copper Corporation’s real property in the Wrangell Mountains. Gruening envisioned the federal government operating both the facilities and the railway in order to provide visitation to this area of Alaska.

·	Due to the war effort and depression Gruening was unable to pull his dream off.

·	In 1941 Congress preserved the railway rightofway to McCarthy for a future highway.

·	In 1960 the Alaska State Legislature began planning for a road to McCarthy and Kennecott. Throughout the remainder of the 1960s the Edgerton Highway between the Richardson Highway and Chitina underwent major upgrading.

·	In 1968 construction began on a twolane modern highway bridge across the Copper River at Chitina. Governor William A. Egan dedicated this bridge in September 1971.

·	By late 1973 full vehicle access was provided into McCarthy and Kennecott via a road constructed that year. By 1978 the bridges constructed in 1973 across the Lakina and Kennicott Rivers were becoming dangerous due to damage caused by frequent flooding.

·	In 1978 & 1979 all of Alaska voted approval for modern full size vehicle bridges across both the Kennicott and Lakina Rivers. Two public hearings were also held during this period that provided overwhelming support for construction of these bridges.

·	In 1980 the Alaska State Ombudsmen’s office found that the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) had illegally and unethically transferred money from both the Kennicott and Lakina River bridge projects to other bridge projects in the state.

·	In 1981 the DOT&PF found emergency funds for construction of a bridge across the Lakina River, using an old single lane bridge that had been held in storage for approximately ten years. The washout of the bridge constructed in 1973 and the Ombudsmen’s negative report necessitated this effort.

·	In 1995 the DOT&PF determined that the “community” at McCarthy preferred a footbridge across the Kennicott River and commenced construction of the current narrow bridges.

·	Since the time of completion of these narrow bridges considerable discussion and argument has occurred in the area regarding the proper use of these facilities.

Approximately a little over one year ago the DOT&PF released results of a survey conducted during the course of a study to determine the need for a government owned and operated parking lot at the end of the McCarthy Road. One option suggested by the DOT&PF was “to deck the present Kennicott River bridges in order to provide full size vehicle access across the Kennicott River and provide parking on the east side of the river”. This option proved to be the most popular and received overwhelming support.