Road construction projects ramping down

WASILLA — Serious snow hasn’t yet started to fly, but rain was causing some construction delays for projects in and around the Valley this week as construction season came to a close.

And as the season changes, the annual transportation fair is already set to highlight projects for the 2016 season.

Overall, crews conducted about $35 million worth of roadwork locally this year, down slightly from $50 million worth of improvements in the 2014 construction season.

The marquee projects for the year might be described as two portions of the same east-west corridor stretching from the Glenn Highway to — for now — Beverly Lakes Road. On the western section, the two-lane Seldon Road extension now extends to a winding residential neighborhood. On the eastern section, borough officials anticipate Bogard Road’s new connection through to Arctic Avenue in Palmer will be open by the end of this week. Sections near Colony Middle and High Schools are already open. The projects combine for almost $50 million total (Roughly $40 million to create a new segment of Bogard Road, and $7.5 million for both phases of the Seldon Road realignment).

The last public meeting for the western side — officials selected the Fishback Road alignment for the final stretch between Pittman Road and Church Road — was set for 5:30 p.m. tonight (October 20) at the Meadow Lakes Elementary School library, at 1741 North Pittman Road.

Transportation fair set

As local construction projects progressed, officials were also slated to hold a large informational gathering at the Menard center for about 70 projects, said Anne Brooks, owner of Brooks and Associates, which coordinates the Mat-Su Transportation Fair.

“It’s a pretty big deal,” she said. “In terms of letting people know all the things that are happening from a transportation planning perspective, it’s kind of the annual go-to place for that.”

Some projects on the list, including two portions of the troubled Knik-Goose Bay Road and portions of the Glenn, could effectively radically re-shape crash and fatality-prone safety corridors in the Valley and improve safety, Brooks said.

“I think it’s really important,” she said.

Other notable projects include a planned realignment of the Glenn Highway between Kings River and Long Lake.

Doors open for the transportation fair at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Menard Center. The event concludes at 8 p.m., and light refreshments will be served.

Other projects in the works

Hard hats and Day-Glo were also visible this year along the newly started South Trunk Road extension, which will eventually run across the Alaska Railroad and over to the neighborhoods surrounding Machetanz Elementary school. The roundabout currently under construction will eventually feed six roads, including on and off ramps for the Parks Highway, a frontage road running parallel to the Parks as far as one access to the Palmer Hay Flats, the existing four-lane Trunk Road, in addition to the future construction.

Officials also paved sections of Sullivan and Caudill roads in the Butte and worked to connect Clapp and Mack roads between the Curtis D Menard Memorial Sports Complex and Fairview Loop. The final portion of the Clapp-Mack extension remaining was cancelled because of heavy weekend rains.

Other projects — potentially affecting not just commutes and thoroughfares, but also local politics — have only just begun. A planned roundabout for the North Shore Drive area of Big Lake surfaced in debates over that area’s upcoming incorporation vote. Right now, an agreement for maintenance of that roundabout is split between the borough and the state. A potential Big Lake city would likely absorb the borough’s half of the maintenance operation, basically paying the electric bill for lights at the roundabout, and the first plowing of the road following major snow events, according to borough engineer Mike Campfield. Those costs will likely transfer to local residents whether or not incorporation goes forward, Campfield said.

“Everyone would expect that the Big Lake Road Service Area is the one that’s going to do the maintenance,” he said. “They’ve already agreed to do that.”

The state would maintain any signage and other right-of-way issues with the roads, Campfield said.

“It’s more of a shared maintenance,” he said. “The state’s doing the summer and the borough’s doing the winter, is how I think of it.”

Other state projects this year included work through the “Glitter Gulch” section of the Parks Highway, and the resurfacing of a stretch of the Glenn Highway between Palmer and Sutton.

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