Highways, roads & bridges update: Central Region STIP projects for fiscal year 2017.

• Author: Anderson, Tasha
• Position: Building Alaska SPECIAI SFCTION

Federal statutes require that states have a four-year program for transportation system preservation and development in place in order to qualify for federal transportation funding. The Alaska Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP, fulfills that requirement in Alaska. The current iteration is the 2016-2019 STIP, updated in April. Below are projects with funding for construction for the Central Region for Fiscal Year 2017 (FY17).

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Municipality of Anchorage

Seward Highway MP 99-105: Bird and Indian Improvements: Design and construct Seward Highway improvements, including passing lanes and bike/pedestrian trails, including replacing the bridge over Indian Creek. FY17 budget is $500,000.

Seward Highway MP 105-115: Passing Lanes Indian to Potter: Improvements in the Windy Corner area of the Seward Highway consisting of highway realignment, auxiliary lanes, safety improvements, wildlife viewing turnouts, and railroad relocation as needed. Calls for a FY17 budget of $5.1 million.

Campbell Airstrip Road and Trail Improvements MP 0.3-0.7: Improve multimodal access to the trail system in Campbell Tract-FNBP, improve roadway, address speeding, improve sight distance, and accommodate snow storage needs while retaining the area's scenic attributes. That FY17 budget is $2 million.

Seward Highway MP 75-90: Ingram Creek to Girdwood Road and Bridge Rehabilitation: Rehabilitation of the highway including passing lanes and parking accommodations MP 81-90 and construction of three replacement bridges within this segment at Glacier Creek (bridge #639), Virgin Creek (bridge #638), and Petersen Creek (bridge #636). The project also includes rehabilitation of the highway MP 75-77, including construction of passing lanes and the rehabilitation of the Ingram Creek Bridge. Initial earthwork will be accomplished for the middle section of the project from Twenty Mile River to Placer River to take advantage of existing material sources and allow time for settling on realigned portions of the highway. FY17 budget for this project is $17.4 million.

Glenn Highway Airport Heights to Hiland Road Pavement Preservation: Calls for roadway resurfacing. The FY17 budget is $15.7 million.

Bethel

Bethel Ridgecrest Drive Rehabilitation: Rehabilitate Ridgecrest Drive between Akakeek and Ptarmagin Streets; raise and widen the road, improve drainage, provide middle land turnouts to reduce congestion, and provide marked and lighted pedestrian...