According to Galen Jones, DOT’s highway design project manager, they’ve been working to do this since the 1980s, with transportation-related issues getting progressively worse in the area.
“That’s caused a lot of … safety issues with vulnerable road users so pedestrians, bicyclists, people who don’t have metal cages around them,” Jones said. “It’s also created conflicts between regional traffic and local traffic so people trying to get around the local neighborhood versus people just trying to get through the neighborhood.”
In each design alternative, the DOT considers criteria such as safety, livability, regional and local travel and the access between the interstate highway system and the Port of Alaska.
“Once you get the traffic out of the neighborhood, separate those local and regional uses, it kind of becomes a blank canvas for Fairview to implement a lot of these projects that they’ve been wanting to build for a long time to make their community better,” Jones said.
There were seven routes showcased on drawing boards at Wednesday night’s meeting, two of those routes go through the Fairview neighborhood and two others bypass the neighborhood by traveling up along Merrill Field to the Airport Heights interchange.
There have been multiple efforts in the past to try and solve some issues in the area, but they were either canceled or didn’t go anywhere, according to Jones.
“Daily, I see someone run a red light there; weekly, I see an accident; and every several months there’s a fatality, so the need for something to happen is real,” Klein said.
On the other hand, Barbara Reilly, who lives by Merrill Field, said she is against all of the proposed routes put forward by the DOT.
“My biggest concern is the disruption of some of the most vulnerable neighborhoods in Anchorage, that would be Mountain View, Fairview, Airport Heights,” Reilly said.
To Jones, there’s no easy solution, with there being pros and cons behind every alternative route.
“All these alternatives we want to get as much public feedback on them as we can because that’s a vital part of this process and making sure there’s a solution that everybody can live with,” Jones said.
The study will be completed by mid-2025, according to Jones, and the design process will last several years after that.
There is a 60-day public comment period through April 7 for the Seward to Glenn Connection proposed designs. Those comments are accepted online, by email or by calling (907) 206-2289. To learn more, go to sewardglennconnection.com.
Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.