Height of Inconvenience

PALMER - As the summer heat gives way to rain showers that will likely continue through the Alaska State Fair, the crews constructing the new Glenn Highway in Palmer are reaching their fever pitch. The $36.6 million phase 1 of construction for the Glenn Highway from miles 34 to 42 are full speed ahead according to DOT Spokesperson Shannon McCarthy. With new pavement on much of the stretch of road under construction, crews will keep up the pace until the start of the Alaska State Fair, the worst Valley traffic has to offer every year.

“The whole idea is to make sure that anything we do is offline so that it’s not interfering with traffic,” said McCarthy.

Construction on the massive reconstruction project began in the fall of 2018 with utility relocation and has seen closures, detours, and shiny new pavement in Palmer when the construction season began. The completion date is still set for the Summer of 2020, but crews are making good time ahead of their schedule change for the Alaska State Fair. Project Manager Todd Smith had previously told Frontiersman Staff that construction would be halted altogether during the Alaska State Fair, but McCarthy says that may not be the case. Department of Transportation officials have been in near constant contact with the Alaska State Fair, hoping not to cause any extra delays to motorists already dealing with fairtime congestion. In Tuesday’s Palmer city Council Meeting, City Manager Nathan Wallace provided sales tax projections to illustrate that even though construction has dominated the roadways in Palmer all summer, detours are not stopping consumers from shopping in Palmer.

“We are really dedicated to making sure that businesses are still accessible and that the public knows where they can get to them,” said McCarthy.

McCarthy said that maintaining access has been a priority for construction crews. Smith hopes to have the first layer of pavement down and all of the new traffic signals operational before termination dust makes its way down the mountains and into the Valley, halting construction work for the winter. While DOT has made every effort to keep motorists moving, they are realistic that this may be the most frustrating time for travelers of the Glenn Highway.

“We’re really at the height of inconvenience for the public,” said McCarthy.

The next layer of pavement is set to be laid down on August 9. Traffic data from last year showed over 20,000 cars on that stretch of the Glenn Highway daily, well over the 12,000 cars per day capacity.

Additionally, crews have eased the process of getting into Palmer. When the magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck on November 30, the Palmer exit off of the Glenn Highway was severely damaged. The hill sloughed off on either side, causing dramatic slides on the north side of the ramp and establishing a crack in the pavement hundreds of feet long inside the guardrail. The exit had been contained to one lane since last winter, and DOT was able to repair the on-ramp in just under a week. McCarthy was pleased with how quickly the project went and said that because the exit is built on saturated soil that rests on wetlands, it would have been a difficult area to excavate and replace. DOT was able to remove faulty materials and compress the exit with geotechnical type of wrapping, solidifying the soil and securing the exit.