Fairview Loop upgrade project draws questions

KNIK-FAIRVIEW — Local residents and transportation officials disagree regarding how much a series of improvements slated for coming years along Fairview Loop will improve safety on the roadway.

In the works since 2009, officials say Phase 1 is scheduled for completion this year, and focuses primarily on resurfacing the road from Candywine Road to Canter Place.

In the worst sections of the road, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities contractors may have to dig down to the roadbed, then build back up again. In other sections, the pavement may simply be overlaid, said project manager for design Eric Miyashiro.

The Fairview Loop phased upgrade is one of numerous projects set for roads south of the Parks Highway, including a planned realignment of South Mack Drive and plans to create a 90-degree intersect with West Fairview Loop and Knik-Goose Bay Road, rather than the existing 45-degree angle. Transportation officials also plan to re-align the Fern Street intersection with KGB.

Many people at a Friday open house questioned the cost, but said they didn’t necessarily oppose the pavement aspect of the project.

“So far, it looks like they’re just going to re-pave what’s here and not fix anything, and then they’re going to come back here next year, or the year after and tear some of it back up and change it, which doesn’t make any sense to me,” said Jim Ressler, a resident of the neighborhood since the late 1970s. “It just sounds like a waste of money.”

Construction on the more controversial Phase 2 of the Fairview project will likely begin in 2017, officials said. As presently planned, those improvements will include the construction of a separated walkway along the roadside, which will require additional right-of-way to be purchased, Miyashiro said.

“We’re going to flatten the slope on the exterior,” he said. “We’re going to make an area where you can recover.”

Lower speed limits are also being discussed.

The design is a blend of safety improvements motivated by historical statistics stretching back a decade, budget constraints, and public feedback from several past open houses.

Residents along the road said they would rather see a basic four-lane road without a bike path.

Residents said they worry the primary reason for the path is to accommodate utility easements between their property and the bike path, and that eliminating trees growing along the roadside will diminish their privacy.

Property owners also argue that the current right-of-way has enough space for a bike path, if the bike path is the primary focus.

“Our biggest concern is they’re trying to buy our property for a bike path that we don’t want,” said local resident Bill LaBuda. “There’s plenty of room in the easement that’s there for a bike path, but they’re trying to take 25 more feet beyond my easement that’s already there and acquire my property, and none of us want that. You got a stretch of miles here that nobody’s agreeing to.”

Other residents said they feel a bit deceived by the use of the phrase “safety improvements” after viewing the proposed Phase II designs. Residents, like Steve Harmon, say they’ve seen cars roll off the road and onto their property, and fear potential collision between cars and youthful bicyclists if the road isn’t widened first.

“People roll cars off this road all the time because there’s no shoulder, and you’re right there on the frickin’ edge and you catch that lip, overcorrect, and boom,” he said. “These guys came out and they sold the original project as they’re going to widen the road and put a fo4ur-foot shoulder on it. Now they’re saying they don’t have money for it so we’re just going to put it back the way it is.”

“Great! Why do anything?” he added. “You’re gonna save a few bucks and kill people.”

Speed along the windy stretch of two-lane road keeps cyclists and pedestrians off. Those speeds would not change in the event of a bike path, said Michelle Davis, another resident.

“Nobody will go out there because it is so dangerous,” she said.

The project was over designed, beyond what residents had expected, Davis added. The road is so narrow, residents say they’ve seen Alaska State Troopers escort the speeders they stop to Snowshoe Elementary School for ticketing, in order to avoid pulling them over along the narrow, shoulder-less, winding portions of Fairview.

Other residents representing the Jack Fish Landing Homeowners Association were concerned the bike path could be too close to a neighborhood landing strip, and worried that bicyclists, some of whom were children, could interact with airplanes.

Residents are protective of the road, Davis said.

“It’s such a pretty road,” she said. “It’s a mess, but it’s gorgeous.”

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.