Land clearing begins on KGB intersection realignment project

WASILLA — Another piece in an ongoing series of Mat-Su Borough road projects in the Knik-Fairview area southwest of Wasilla is falling into place, with initial work getting underway on an intersection realignment.

Land clearing began late last month on a little more than a half-mile stretch that will connect the realigned Clapp Street intersection near Mile 4 of Knik-Goose Bay Road with West Fairview Loop, which sits to the northeast.

Currently, West Fairview Loop meets up with Knik-Goose Bay Road some 1,000 feet away from the Clapp intersection. The two signaled interchanges are too close, said Alaska Department of Transportation spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy.

“Intersections this close together have safety concerns and they typically don’t operate as well,” McCarthy said, “which is the case with these two.”

According to state traffic statistics, more than 19,000 cars daily pass through the Knik-Goose Bay intersection with the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. That figure reaches almost 17,000 at the Knik-Goose Bay-Fairview Loop intersection.

A collaborative project between the City of Wasilla and borough came together in 2015 with the opening of the South Mack Drive-Clapp Street realignment project, which connects the Parks Highway near the Menard Sports Center with Knik-Goose Bay Road at Clapp.

McCarthy said the $2 million state realignment project will create a single, signalized intersection at Knik-Goose Bay. Scarsella Brothers Inc. was the successful bidder, McCarthy added.

“Improvements will include reconstructing 3,200 feet of Knik-Goose Bay Road and 2,800 feet of new construction on Fairview Loop and S. Clapp,” McCarthy wrote in an email. “A new separated pathway will also be constructed between KGB Road and Top of the World Circle on the east side of the new alignment.”

Once the work is complete, McCarthy said the signal currently at Knik-Goose Bay and the existing West Fairview Loop will be removed. An existing portion of West Fairview Loop from KGB to Old Knik Road will be renamed Old Knik Road, McCarthy said.

With the bulk of the project work planned for the spring and summer of 2018, McCarthy said motorists can expect little in the way of traffic delays this fall.

“They are concentrating on utility relocations,” McCarthy said. “There may be some lane restrictions when the clearing equipment is close to the roadway, but the impacts should be fairly minimal.”

Contact reporter Steven Merritt at 352-2269 or steven.merritt@frontiersman.com