Wasilla Fishhook expected to straighten up

WASILLA -- Wasilla-Fishhook Road is notorious for sharp turns, narrow shoulders and deadly corners.

This is slated to change soon, along a 2.8-mile stretch of road extending from Main Street in Wasilla to Seldon Road.

In preparation for the project, the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities recently began acquiring property and relocating several residents from homes along Wasilla Fishhook.

Improvements include widening and straightening the road as well as extending the current paved bike path on the east side of the road from Iditarod Elementary School to Seldon Road.

A new sidewalk will also run along the west side of Wasilla Fishhook, from the intersection of Bogard Road and Main Street to Kalli Circle, near Denali Gymnastics. Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2006.

DOTPF spokesman Rick Feller said the acquisitions so far include 66 property purchases, 15 utility easements and 56 construction easements. Another roughly 20 building reallocations are also taking place, in which certain structures along the road will be either removed or demolished. The total cost of acquiring land and relocating several residents is just over $4 million.

While property acquisitions and design plans are already under way, funding for the actual construction is still being requested.

The project -- officially called Wasilla Fishhook Road rehabilitation -- is similar to the Knik-Goose Bay Road improvements.

"We typically refer to those rehab projects as 'three R's projects,'" Feller said. "The three R's are resurfacing, restoration and rehabilitation and they are meant to extend the useful life of a roadway for 10 to 20 years."

Michelle Colby, a right-of-way agent for DOTPF, said the project also includes a traffic signal at Seldon Road as well as several left-turn pockets going into subdivisions.

Colby said the improvements were needed to ensure safety.

"The crosses on telephone poles would be the first indication that something needed to be done," she said. "There's very little shoulder on the road and not much recovery room during icy conditions. By widening the shoulders and providing turning pockets, we are addressing some of those concerns."

According to Feller, the current improvements are related to another project which would improve Main Street in Wasilla. Those plans include sidewalks, curbs, storm drains and lighting along Main Street.

DOTPF Maintenance and Operations Manager Tom Young said the Main Street improvements won't take place until they finish a traffic study, which he expects to be completed in late summer 2005.

A smaller project, however, to repave Main Street from the Parks Highway to Bogard Road, is slated for spring 2005. According to DOTPF, a paving contractor is already lined up for that work.

Contact Joel Davidson at joel.davidson@frontiersman.com.