Glenn upgrades in the works

WASILLA — Construction of a four-lane road between the Glenn-Parks Interchange and about Arctic Avenue is still years away, but the evolution of the Glenn into a four-lane highway is officially off the page, authorities said.

Right-of-way acquisition for the sometimes-fatal stretch of pavement began in mid August. The highway will go from two lanes to four, and traffic will be driven to controlled intersections to get onto the Glenn, instead of exiting directly onto the highway. When Transportation has acquired the property, they will begin work on $73 million worth of road construction, expected to last almost two years. Project construction is dependent on the availability of funds from the Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Authority grants to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, which in turn comes from the 18-cent federal gasoline tax. Planners have already spent $5 million on design and right-of-way acquisition.

In addition to widening the existing highway, officials will add a separate pathway and collect several private driveways on a frontage road.

Relative to other projects, the property buy for the relatively large-scale, said Sean Baski, design project manager for the project with the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

“It is a major right-of-way acquisition,” he said. “A lot of it is widening not just for the highway, but for the frontage roads.”

In some cases, property acquisitions will be limited to narrow strips of property directly next to the existing road corridor. In other cases, Transportation will buy out entire properties to make way for the expanded roads, Baski said. Because the amounts of property required to buy can be highly variable, depending on the stretch of road involved, Baski declined to provide

The most striking change to the section might be the narrow isthmus between Bradley Lake and Echo Lake. The road currently overlooks lakes on either side from the top of a narrow embankment. Transportation plans call for the road to be significantly lowered to allow for safer intersections with Colleen. Fill material excavated from the rise will be used elsewhere in the road project.

Officials plan to install four new traffic signals at Outer Springer Loop, South Inner Springer Loop, East Inner Springer Loop, and South Colony Way. They will join existing traffic lights at the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, Dogwood Avenue, and Arctic Avenue.

The addition of lights could slow down some commuters, but allow faster transit times, depending on the time of day and the direction drivers are headed, Baski said. Getting to work quickly isn’t the point, Baski said. At least two fatalities were recorded on the roads during the target session, and three people died in collisions on that stretch of road in 2015: two motorcyclists and a driver.

“The real focus of this projects is safety,” he said. “We have a huge purpose and need based on safety. That’s reflected in the number of accidents. It’s a great project for us to deliver to the community because ultimately we’re going to be saving lives.”

Contact reporter Brian O’Connor at 352-2270, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano