The Alaska Department of Transportation has closed four road maintenance stations, limited operations at a fifth, and discontinued maintenance at a rural airport.

The Department announced the closures on Tuesday, saying they are the latest as a result of deep cuts in state funding. Since 2015, the Department says it has seen a $60 million reduction to its budget, a decrease of nearly 22 percent.

According to DOT spokeswoman Meadow Bailey, 20 jobs were lost as a direct result of the closures announced on Tuesday. But these are not the first losses the department has encountered. Overall, DOT has been forced to lay off 117 support staff and 55 operators statewide in the last two years due to budget cuts, according to Bailey.

“For our department, which tends to be a very visible department, when we make cuts like this it’s really noticeable,” Bailey told Channel 2 in a phone interview. “These are drastic cuts for us. We’ve seen a huge hit to our maintenance forces.”

The map below shows the locations of maintenance stations that were selected for closure by DOT:

O’Brien Creek Maintenance Station on the Taylor Highway

Chitina Maintenance Station in Chitina

Birch Lake Maintenance Station on the Richardson Highway

Central Maintenance Station in Central

Thompson Pass Maintenance Station, on the Richardson Highway near Valdez, will become a seasonal station, open in the winter only.

The department still plans to maintain the roads previously managed by these stations, but doing so will take longer as the responsibility shifts to maintenance stations located further away. DOT is warning drivers that its stressed resources could make winter road conditions more challenging.

"All roads will remain open, but it will take longer to plow snow and address ice conditions," DOT said in the press release.

The closures come after months of cost-saving measures that included consolidating personnel, shifting schedules, and changing overtime procedures for workers. When more cuts needed to be made, the department began looking at closing certain facilities.

The maintenance stations closed on Friday were selected because they are relatively close to other stations that could absorb responsibility for managing these sections of road, Bailey explained.

“It’s not going to be nearly as efficient or responsive as we have been in the past," Bailey said. "These are really significant cuts for us. This will definitely impact the way we do business and people will notice this.”

The maintenance stations are primarily responsible for snow-plowing, filling potholes, clearing ditches, repairing signs and cutting brush, among other tasks. Personnel at the Central Maintenance Station were also responsible for maintaining the Circle Hot Springs Airport, but now that that station has closed, DOT will not be there to light or plow the runway during the winter.

"Aircraft will still be allowed to take off and land at Circle Hot Springs Airport with appropriate use of landing equipment, but the department will not be lighting or plowing the runway," DOT said. "Central Airport will remain lighted and plowed to service the communities of Central and Circle Hot Springs."

While cuts to state funding have resulted in drastic reductions to DOT’s maintenance operations, Bailey says the department is still seeing steady funding for construction projects, which are primarily paid for by the federal government. So while cuts have been made to maintenance operations, construction projects around the state are moving forward as planned.