Seward Meridian homeowners to voice opinions

April 10, 2005

DAWN De BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

Owners of homes and businesses along Seward Meridian Parkway have an additional six months to voice their opinions about a plan to widen the road, taking it from two to five lanes wide.

An environmental impact statement residents of the Seward Meridian Parkway area believed would be finished this spring is actually set for completion this fall, Rick Feller, a legislative and media liaison for the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, told a half-dozen people who attended a town hall meeting convened Saturday by state Sen. Charlie Huggins, R-District H.

The meeting happened at the Stepping Stone Child Care & Preschool building, on the corner of Seward Meridian and Bogard Road.

"The amount of information has come in dribbles and drabs. At least the timetable is slowing down, and that's because they are doing more studies," said Dan Aldrich, who owns a lot along Seward Meridian.

Seward Meridian, which is currently a two-lane road, will be expanded to a five-lane road with a center turning lane and a bike/pedestrian pathway along the highway. The intersection at Bogard Road and Seward Meridian Parkway could become either a roundabout or a four-way intersection with traffic lights.

Aldrich and other residents had thought right-of-way acquisitions would begin as early as this summer. This timetable had been provided during a fact-gathering open house on the project held at Teeland Middle School in early March.

"No right-of-way acquisition will be made until the [environmental impact statement] is done," said Feller, adding that the document should be finished by this autumn. After the documents are completed, DOT will recommend a preferred route, including a "no build" alternative.

Some who live or operate businesses adjacent to Seward Meridian have worried that the state would buy more land than it needed, before designs were complete.

"I have had heartburn with advance right-of-way acquisitions," said Wasilla resident Steve Miller, who said he lives off Palmdale Drive, which intersects with Bogard Road.

An advance acquisition situation would occur if DOT bought property prior to locking in road designs. This would allow road designers much more leeway.

Feller assured the group that this isn't the correct protocol for DOT. Project refinement will happen after the state buys rights of way, according to Feller.

"The environmental impact document is designed to make sure all options are considered," Feller said. "We are evaluating the retaining wall. How much is it right to spend to build a structure to preserve the lot?"

"I will commit to this: Helping you guys with reinforcement of looking at alternatives," said Huggins, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee.

The evolving changes to the road plan have surprised property owners.

Suzanne Aldrich said she was shocked when she attended March's open house for the road project and saw that a 150-foot-wide corridor for the proposed road changes had widened to 200 feet wide.

"I thought: 'Bam! Where did this come from?'" Suzanne Aldrich said.

Feller explained that widening the corridor was a way of preparing for future expansion.

Various members of the group said they thought DOT should be more accommodating and friendly when negotiating for rights of way.

"It helps when you're folksy with people," Miller said.

The negotiations for right-of-way purchases usually take between one year and 18 months, Feller said.

"When we are acquiring several thousand parcels of land a year, it's hard," Feller said. "There's seven or eight people who do all the acquisitions. We can't sit in everyone's living room before we do the task."