Welcome to the Huffman Edition of the Hillside Roads Planning Newsletter. The Hillside Roads Planning Newsletter is intended to provide area residents and businesses with important project and schedule information on upcoming road improvement projects in your area. This is the final newsletter of the Huffman Road Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Evaluation phase of the project. The purpose of this edition is to provide a schedule for subsequent phases of work, to describe the preferred alternative and why it was selected, and to identify the estimated construction cost.
In order to obtain input on conditions within the project area, we have held three public meetings, one resource agency meeting, made presentations to Huffman/O'Malley, Bayshore/Klatt, and Old Seward/Oceanview Community Councils, set up and monitored a project telephone hotline, e-mail address, and web site. To date, these are the most frequently voiced comments.
DOWL Engineers, under contract to the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, provided Preliminary Engineering, Public Involvement, and Environmental Documentation Services necessary to analyze existing conditions and evaluate needs for changes to Huffman Road between Old Seward Highway and Lake Otis Parkway .
Preliminary Engineering services included evaluation of the existing alignment, roadway conditions, and pedestrian facilities within the project area and development of recommendations for proposed upgrades such as realignment, widening shoulders, turning pockets, general safety improvements, drainage, and pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
Public Involvement services included public meetings, community council presentations, newsletters, a telephone hotline, and a web site to inform interested parties and solicit the views of the public, resource agencies, and organizations. Environmental Services included evaluation of environmental conditions such as noise, wetlands, potential for environmental contamination and the preparation of an Environmental Checklist.
This project is necessary to alleviate vehicle congestion, improve safety and capacity, provide turning lanes for turning vehicles, and to improve pedestrian facilities within the project area.
Huffman Road (between the Old and New Seward Highways) is a three-lane high volume roadway (approximately 13,100 vehicles per day) that serves a busy commercial area. This section of Huffman contains intersections that have accident rates above the Municipality of Anchorage predicted values.
Huffman Road between the New Seward Highway and Lake Otis Parkway is a two-lane high volume road (approximately 14,000 vehicles per day). This section of Huffman Road does not have a center left-turn lane or turn pockets that allow turning vehicles to move out of the way of through traffic.
Both sections of Huffman Road provide primary access to the Hillside area which has been experiencing substantial growth in recent years; a trend that is expected to continue. There are a number of public and private schools within and around the project corridor, resulting in an increased demand for pedestrian facilities.
The project cost for ROW, utility relocation, and construction of the recommended improvements is estimated at $6,517,000. According to the latest AMATS TIP, the funding for ROW, utility relocation, and construction of the Huffman Road Project is $8.0 million.
A summary of the estimated costs are as follows:
Construction Cost |
$3,334,000 |
$3,525,000 |
$3,724,000 |
Design & Construction Administration |
$627,000 |
$654,000 |
$705,000 |
Right-of-Way |
$894,000 |
$1,338,000 |
$722,000 |
Utility Relocation |
$100,000 |
$150,000 |
$125,000 |
Total Project Cost |
$4,955,000 |
$5,667,000 |
$5,276,000 |
Alternative A - No Build
Alternative B – Three-lane roadway from Old Seward Highway (OSH) to Lake Otis Parkway (LOP) including one travel lane in each direction, a continuous center left-turn lane, a separated paved multi-use trail on the north side of Huffman Road and a sidewalk along the south side of Huffman Road . The Huffman Road Carrs driveway converted to a right-in, right-out only driveway.
Alternative C (West End) - Five lane roadway from OSH to New Seward Highway (NSH) including two travel lanes in each direction, a continuous center left-turn lane, a separated paved multi-use trail on the north side of Huffman Road and a sidewalk along the south side of Huffman Road. The Huffman Road Carrs driveway converted to a right-in, right-out only driveway.
Alternative C (East End) – Three-lane roadway from NSH to LOP including one travel lane in each direction, a continuous center left-turn lane, a separated paved multi-use trail on the north side of Huffman Road and a sidewalk along the south side of Huffman.
Alternative D – Five-lane roadway from OSH to LOP including two travel lanes in each direction, a continuous center left-turn lane, a sidewalk on the north side of Huffman Road and a sidewalk on the south side of Huffman Road. The Huffman Road Carrs driveway converted to a right-in, right-out only driveway.
The selection of a preferred Alternative was based on the safety analysis, capacity and geometric analyses, and public comments and concerns.
Alternative C was selected as the preferred alternative because it includes upgrades that improve safety by providing a continuous center left-turn lane (to allow turning vehicles to move out of the travel lanes), a separated multi-use trail along the north side of Huffman Road (to move pedestrians away from the roadway), a continuous sidewalk along the south side of Huffman Road, and conversion of the Huffman Road Carrs Driveway to a right-in, right-out driveway.
Alternative C was also selected because it provides additional travel lanes and turn lanes, which will provide adequate capacity for the entire corridor for the 20-year design life of the project. Improvements to the roadway geometry such as driveway, intersection, and vertical curve configuration in this alternative support its selection as the preferred alternative.
Finally, Alternative C was selected because it provides improvements that address the majority of public and agency comments obtained during the public involvement and environmental documentation efforts.
Alternative B was not selected because it does not provide adequate roadway capacity for the design life of the project. Alternative D was not selected because it provides more capacity than needed and the additional lanes between NSH and LOP would eliminate the ability to have a separated paved multi-use trail on the north side of the road within the existing right-of-way.
Please follow the project. ADOT&PF will continue public
involvement efforts during the design phase of the project.
www.hillsideroads.com
Hillside Roads Update Hotline 222-ROAD
State of Alaska DOT
Project Manager: Miriam McCulloch
miriam_tanaka@dot.state.ak.us
P.O. Box 196900
Anchorage , Alaska 99519-6900
(907) 269-0546
Lounsbury and Associates
Project Manager; Jim Sawhill, P.E.
jsawhill@lounsburyinc.com
723 West 6 th Avenue
Anchorage , Alaska 99501
272-5451 - fax 272-9065State of Alaska DOT
Project Manager: Miriam McCulloch
miriam_tanaka@dot.state.ak.us
(907) 269-0546
State of Alaska DOT
Project Manager: Jim Childers, P.E.
jim_childers@dot.state.ak.us
P.O. Box 196900 Anchorage , Alaska 99519-6900
269-0544 fax - 243-6927