Summer 2017 roadway construction round-up: highway, roadway, and runway improvements.

• Author: Mackenzie, Kathryn
• Position: CONSTRUCTION

Summer is primetime for road improvement projects in Alaska; the weather is warm and ice and snow are distant memories of winter past. As fall arrives and the state prepares for the inevitable frigid weeks and months ahead, workers statewide are busy preparing Alaska's highways, roads, runways, and other infrastructure for another round of snow plowing, studded tires, and wear and tear from heavy trucks toting cargo from one end of the state to the other. Companies all over Alaska are involved in dozens of projects worth millions of dollars designed to make life on the road safer and smoother for the thousands of commuters, visitors, and truckers who depend on Alaska's roads.

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Stantec

The multidiscipline architecture and engineering firm is involved in numerous projects designed to improve highways, roads, and runways statewide.

The company was contracted by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) to provide design services for the reconstruction of the Glacier Highway in Juneau from the Fritz Cove Road intersection to the intersection of Seaview Avenue in Auke Bay. Work on the $13.8 million project will improve sightlines and reduce conflicting turning patterns, while also improving the roadway's shoulders and pedestrian crossings near Auke Bay Elementary School. The project includes roadway subbase improvement, widening, curve realignment, and surfacing. Pedestrian facilities, retaining walls, lighting, drainage, and guardrail are part of the Stantec-designed project set for completion in August 2018.

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The Municipality of Anchorage employed Stantec's services to design the 100th Avenue Extension to provide roundabouts at the Minnesota Drive and 100th Avenue interchange. The second phase (Phase 2B) of this project includes construction at the previously surcharged roadway between Minnesota Drive and C Street. This minor arterial roadway--scheduled to be complete in August 2018--will have three lanes and five-foot shoulders, as well as separated, multi-use pathways on both sides of the road and continuous LED lighting along its length.

Some of the most important horizontal construction projects in the state are the "roads" airplanes use to take-off and land. Runways and taxiways are the vital conduit through which much of Alaska receives personnel, cargo, and, of course, tourists. At Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Taxiway Y is...