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7ROADS, STREETS, TRAILS AND

PEDESTRIAN SYSTEMS

This chapter describes the systems thatwill provide for motor vehicle circulation,for bicycling and skiing, and for walking inGirdwood Valley in the future. In eachcase, particular attention is given toestablishing a grid or network of facilitiesthat provide direct and continuous routesto residential and commercial sites with ahigh degree of connectivity and safety.

THE VALLEY TRAIL SYSTEM

Trails will play a unique dual role inGirdwood Valley in the future. The trailnetwork will support development of arecreational activity base that is critical toachievement of the community’s strategyfor low-impact, environmentally basedtourism in Girdwood. At the same time,the valley’s trails will support a growingvolume of utilitarian travel (commuting towork, shopping, travel to school, etc.) bybicycling, skiing and walking.

The trail system will function differently inthe winter than it does in warm weathermonths, a fact that has implications forboth design and maintenance. Bicyclingand Nordic skiing are activities that attracttens of thousands of visitors to resortdestinations throughout North America.Mountain communities have used trailnetworks successfully to attract bothsummer and winter visitors.

Nordic skiing, in particular, is growing as aresort destination activity and manyresorts are providing miles of ski tracks.In many cases these trails are groomedand include direct connections to lodging(Breckenridge, Snowmass Village),schools (Aspen, Jackson) and Alpine

skiing resort base areas (numerousresorts).

The cross-country and back-country skiingpotential of Girdwood Valley has hardlybeen tapped. With its flat valley floorsurrounded by majestic mountain sceneryand with its reliably abundant snowfall,Girdwood could be an internationaldestination for Nordic skiing. However,this will require a conscious effort toprovide appropriate infrastructure andsupport services, as well as marketingprograms to increase public awareness.Girdwood’s winter trail market maycurrently be made up primarily ofAnchorage area residents, but in thefuture could extend to the Lower 48 andother countries with appropriateadvertising.

Similarly, bicycling -- both mountain bikingon trails and forest roads and road bikingon paved trails and lanes -- is increasinglya source of economic activity in resorttowns. Many mountain communities inNorth America have established trailnetworks and support services designedto attract bicyclists. The demographics ofthis market are attractive and offer anopportunity to diversify Girdwood’s appealbeyond Alpine skiing, increasing thenumber of visitors and protecting againstdownturns in skiing activity (say, in poorsnow years).

The trail system in Girdwood Valley will beexpanded incrementally over time, butemphasis should be placed on afoundation network of major trails thatprovide continuity over significantdistances and serve double duty asrecreational and utilitarian facilities. Map 9shows the primary Girdwood Valley trails

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which should receive the highest priorityfor completion. For recreational use, theIditarod Trail along Glacier Creek will helpput Girdwood on the map, as it will be atrail in an unparalleled natural setting withgood length and excellent connections toother local and regional trails. This trailhas significant potential as a destinationfacility - people will travel to Girdwoodbecause of this trail.

The informal Beaver Pond and MooseMeadows winter trails also have potentialto become destination facilities for winterskiing. Linking the Beaver Pond Trail tothe Valley Entry Multimodal Center andinto Girdwood’s downtown would create aconvenient facility with good connectionsat each end. This trail should eventuallybe improved to serve summer uses aswell by providing improved alignment insome locations and by providing drainagewhere needed and a granular surface.

The paved trail along Alyeska Highwayand Arlberg Road will continue to be animportant link in the Valley network. Bothsummer and winter bicycling andpedestrian use will increase on this trail ascommuters, students and others follow anational trend toward non-motorized travelin resort communities.

As the Municipality works with Valleyresidents and businesses to developGirdwood’s trail system, several specificissues should be addressed in theMunicipality’s capital program and inannual maintenance budgets:

• Discontinuities and poor connectionsmust be avoided. Many communitiesmake the mistake of leaving missinglinks in their trail networks becausespecific sections are controversial,expensive or difficult to build.However, a trail system can besignificantly handicapped by failedconnections and missing sections,especially in its foundation network ofprimary facilities (e.g., those shownon Map 9). In most cases, providingthese missing links will increaseactivity levels by orders of magnitude.

• The goals of the Girdwood TrailsCommittee include the constructionand maintenance of a high quality‘progressively primitive’ trail networkthat provides a year-roundrecreational access to the areas in,and adjacent to, the Girdwood valleyon relatively undeveloped trails andallows for alternate forms oftransportation within the establishedGirdwood community on more highlydeveloped trails.

• Any trail that is intended to serveutilitarian travel should have a hardsurface, though not necessarilypaved. While residents value therural character of the Valley, the localclimate, soils and drainage conditionsmandate that a hard surface beprovided on any trail that is intendedfor use by bicyclists and pedestriansin the summer and fall months.

• Major trails should receive wintermaintenance. In the case of pavedutilitarian trails, this should includeaggressive snow removal and icemanagement. In the case of winterNordic trails, this should include basepreparation, grooming and wintersignage.

• Major trails should receive summermaintenance. This includes bothpaved and unpaved trails. Periodicresurfacing, cleaning of drains andditches, and maintenance of signageare important to the success ofdestination facilities and should beplanned and budgeted. Soft-surfacetrails also require routine annual

Fig. 7-1The year-round trail

along Alyeska Highway

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maintenance to restore surfaces inthe spring, deal with the inevitabledrainage problems and keep signagein good shape.

THE PEDESTRIANENVIRONMENT

To be successful today, resortcommunities -- anywhere in the world, butespecially in snow country -- must providehigh quality pedestrian environments. Theexamples set in the North Americanmountain villages at Whistler, Park City,Vail, Breckenridge and Aspen -- not tomention the many fine resort villages inSwitzerland, Italy, France, Germany,Austria and Norway -- have shown thattoday’s travelers crave a friendly walkingenvironment (summer and winter) and willpay top dollar to get to places that provideit.

A good pedestrian environment alsoserves a practical function. Given achoice, people in resort settings will makemany short trips (trips of less than a halfmile) by walking -- even in inclementweather. This relieves the roads andstreets of the unnecessary burden of shortvehicle trips, reducing congestion andimproving circulation.

Today, the walking environment inGirdwood is poor and will likely worsen astraffic grows in the future unless thepedestrian system is given a higherpriority. To achieve a high-quality walkingenvironment in Girdwood Valley, theMunicipality should place priority on:

• Sidewalks in commercial areas. Thedowntown (New Townsite), the oldresort base and the new resort basemust have a complete network ofgood sidewalks providing access toall retail establishments, connectionsto lodging, access from vehicleparking (keeping in mind that fact thatone source of pedestrians is parkedcars), and connections to trailslocated nearby. In the downtownarea, this plan calls for a system ofarcades and boardwalks along theretail front to provide for all-seasonpedestrian circulation. Establishing

this sidewalk network will require bothpublic and private expenditure andshould become a minimumrequirement of master plans for majordevelopment projects, including thosein residential areas.

• Crosswalks. Road and streetcrossings are critical barriers topedestrian travel, and no goodwalking system can be establishedwithout providing for safe, convenientpedestrian crossings. This is mostcritical on roadways that carrysignificant traffic and also transectcommercial areas where pedestrianactivity is needed (i.e. Alyeska,Arlberg and Hightower). In particular,the intersections of Alyeska Highwaywith Crow Creek Road, HightowerRoad and Arlberg Road should behigh priorities.

• Maintenance. Girdwood Valleyfeatures climatic conditions in bothsummer and winter that will defeatattempts to create a pedestrianenvironment if adequate maintenanceis not provided. Paved surfaces,drainage systems, signage andvegetation must all be managedroutinely and frequently.

• Land development patterns. Many ofthe recommendations contained inthe companion Commercial AreasMaster Plan (Chapters 8 - 12) aredesigned to achieve a developmentpattern that is conducive to thecreation of a good pedestrianenvironment. Key requirements aremixed use commercial areas where

Fig. 7-2Pedestrians inHightower Road

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housing and lodging help activate thearea and where a mix of stores,restaurants and bars encouragecirculation.

• Pedestrian underpass of AlyeskaHighway. A pedestrian underpassshould be built under AlyeskaHighway at the New Townsite (seeFig. 7-6 and Chapter 9). This facilitywill provide for pedestrian circulationbetween the areas north and south ofthe highway and will complement thesurface crosswalks, which will also beprovided at Crow Creek Road and atHightower Road. The underpass willplay a particularly significant roleduring the Forest Fair and otherspecial events. During certain timesof the year, the underpass may betemporarily flooded and will beclosed. This will not diminish itsoverall utility or importance.

ROADS AND STREETS PLAN

Girdwood Valley today is a place that isalmost entirely dependent on automobiles(and pick-ups and SUVs) for mobility.While this will change in the future as theimprovements described above and inChapter 6 are made, safe and efficientmotor vehicle circulation will always beessential to the needs of residents andvisitors in the Valley.

Map 10 shows the arterial and collectorstreets that will make up the principalroadway network in the Valley. Of course,new local streets (not highlighted on themap) will continue to be developed as

commercial, residential and recreationaldevelopment occurs.

Although traffic in the future will besignificantly higher than it is today, futurelevels of traffic and congestion will not behigh enough to warrant new roads solelyto alleviate congestion or reduce trafficvolumes. This is an importantconsideration in the Transportation MasterPlan recommendations for the GirdwoodValley road system. The 1997 GirdwoodTransportation Study provides forecasts oftraffic to the year 2016. Even under the“No Action” alternative, the busiestintersections in the Valley will operate atgood levels of service.

Instead, this Transportation Master Planaddresses these major roadway systemissues and discusses them in the followingsections:

• Emergency access and egress;

• Commercial area auto parking;

• Paving new townsite streets;

• Neighborhood connectivity and trafficdistribution; and,

• Alyeska Highway -- speeds and trafficcalming

Emergency Access and Egress

Girdwood Valley’s location andenvironment expose it to the potential fornatural occurrences and events. Twotypes of issues are relevant to aconsideration of roadway system needs:

Access to sites in the Valley foremergency service vehicles (police, fire,ambulance).

Evacuation from the Valley for generalemergencies and disasters.

The kinds of emergencies that would giverise to a general need for eitheremergency service in, or for evacuation of,Girdwood Valley include flood, forest fire,structure fire, seismic events, avalanchesand earth slides. Combinations, such as

Fig. 7-3View west down the

Alyeska Highwaycorridor through the

New Townsite

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seismic and flood, or earth slide and floodevents, are also possible.

Most of Girdwood is accessible for motorvehicles only via the Alyeska Highway.Areas east of the Glacier Creek bridge(including residential areas accessed viaTimberline, Donner, Alpine and AlyeskaAvenue, the old ski base and the AlyeskaPrince/new ski base area) could all beisolated by forest fire, by major flooding ofGlacier Creek, or by the loss of either theCalifornia Creek or Glacier Creek bridges.

The New Townsite could be cut off ifCalifornia Creek floods. The communityschool is located at the end of HightowerRoad and could be isolated by fire or byflooding in the California Creek/GlacierCreek systems. The lower part of ArlbergRoad (at the old ski base) lies in a zone ofmoderate avalanche hazard. Of particularconcern should be the two large buildingsthat lie at the ends of roadways: the PrinceHotel and the public school.

Implementation of this plan will greatlyimprove the redundancy of the Valley roadnetwork for emergencyservices/evacuation purposes. (Inaddition to the roadways described below,the potential implementation of a rail spurwould provide some service redundancyand evacuation capacity. See Chapter 6.)Six new roadway projects are proposed inthis plan and described below. (Note thatlocations shown on Map 10 areconceptual. Final details of facility locationwill be established as part of engineeringand design.)

1. Crow Creek – Arlberg Connector

This project has been included in severalpast plans, including the GirdwoodCommunity Impact Study (1993), theGirdwood Area Plan (1995), and theGirdwood Transportation Study (1997). Itwill provide a new roadway from CrowCreek road across upper Glacier Creeknorth of the airport to Arlberg Road in thevicinity of the Alyeska Prince Hotel. In1993, this project was estimated to cost$3.4 million. Some widening andreconstruction of Crow Creek Road aswell as reconstruction of the intersection of

Crow Creek Road and Alyeska Highwaywould also be needed. This project willprovide an alternative route to and fromthe Alyeska Prince Hotel and new skibase. This project is recommended onlywhen additional resort developmentoccurs which warrants this route. Thesecond bridge over Glacier Creek willmake a key contribution to safety in theValley. Consideration should be given tobuilding this bridge as a single structurefor the rail spur and the new roadway.Even if separate facilities are to be built,they should be co-located to minimizeimpacts to Glacier Creek and to trails inthis area.

This new roadway (which will need aname) will be classified as a “residentialcollector” (category I).

Some improvement of Crow Creek Roadwill be warranted as part of this project.Specifically, Crow Creek Road should bepaved (two lanes) and the bridge overCalifornia Creek replaced. Care should betaken to preserve the character of the areaalong the road by avoiding an overly widecross-section and by designing theroadway for low speeds.

2. Hightower – Crow Cr. Connector

This project was recommended in theGirdwood Area Plan (1995). It will providea two-lane connection between HightowerRoad and Crow Creek Road just north ofthe New Townsite. The new roadway willestablish a critically important alternativeroute to and from the community schooland to the New Townsite. Building theroad will establish another bridge overCalifornia Creek.

This new roadway (which will need aname) will be classified as a “commercialcollector” (category IA).

3. South Access to South Townsite

This project was recommended in theGirdwood Area Plan (1995) as the Ruane-Glacier Creek Connector. It will provide anew two-lane road from Alyeska Highwaysomewhere north of the wastewatertreatment plant east and north toreconnect with Alyeska Highway at the

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Hightower Road intersection. A version ofthis project is currently planned as part ofthe proposed recreational (golf course)and commercial development alongGlacier Creek.

This new roadway (which will need aname) will be classified as a “residentialcollector” (category I).

4. Southside Townsite Connector

This roadway is not called for in either theGirdwood Community Impact Study (1993)or the Girdwood Area Plan (1995)although at least a portion (where itconnects with Alyeska Highway) has beenplatted. The roadway is needed to betterdistribute traffic in the core area and tosupport the vitality of the southsidecommercial area. Building the road willinvolve solving stream and wetland issuesassociated with the crossing of theCalifornia Creek floodplain. It may be thata relatively long bridge or pier structurewill be needed.

During public workshops, residentsidentified potential alternative alignmentsfor this roadway that would place itsconnection with Alyeska Highway furtherfrom the curves, in a location that wouldreduce residential impacts and might alsoreduce the amount of structure required toget across California Creek. TheMunicipality should place priority onstudying the alignment of this roadway sothat, if it is feasible, right of way for it canbe preserved.

This new roadway (which will need aname) will be classified as a “residentialcollector” (category I).

5. Second Valley Roadway along theEast Side of the Valley

This will provide a second roadwaycorridor into the Valley east of GlacierCreek. Such a project was described inthe 1993 Girdwood Community ImpactStudy and was included in the 1995Girdwood Area Plan. Construction costswere estimated at $8.8 million in 1993.

Although the roadway has historicallybeen shown in plans as a project running

from Seward Highway north directly toAlyeska Highway (the “New GirdwoodAccess Road” in the Girdwood Area Plan),it may be that the essential objectives ofemergency redundancy could be met byother means. There is some potential fora significant amount of residentialdevelopment in the area east of GlacierCreek and south of Virgin Creek. Shouldthat occur, there would be a clear need fora connection into the core area, withconnections into the existing local streetgrid in the Timberline/Alpine areas.

There may also be some value in aconnection directly to Seward Highway.However, the overall corridor could bedeveloped in a manner that would renderit slow enough and indirect enough that itwould not be attractive as an alternativecut-through route between Seward andAlyeska Highways. Such a roadwaywould be of value for emergencyredundancy and yet might avoid impactsto established neighborhoods in theTimberline/Alpine area.

This new roadway (which will need aname) will be classified as a “residentialcollector” (category I).

6. Airport Access Collector

This roadway will provide a more directaccess to the airport from the north,reducing impacts from airport traffic on theresidential area to the south and east.This new roadway (which will need aname) will be classified as a “residentialcollector” (category I).

7. Gold Avenue Extension

This roadway will provide access to theValley Entry Multimodal Center describedin Chapter 6. It will be aligned with GoldAvenue to the east of Alyeska Highway toestablish a single intersection. GoldAvenue will be classified as a “residentialcollector” (category I) west of AlyeskaHighway and as a “neighborhoodcollector” (category IC) east of thehighway. Gold Avenue east of thehighway will be classified as a collectoronly as far as Main Street in the originaltownsite, a change from the previousRoads and Streets Plan.

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Another potential collector roadway inwhich residents had an interest and whichwas studied as part of this plan was aconnection of Hightower Road north to theCrow Creek - Arlberg Connector along thewest side of Glacier Creek. That roadwayis not included in this plan for severalreasons. It would have direct impacts tothe Iditarod Trail in this area, wouldtraverse an environmentally sensitivelandscape, and would increase traffic onthe part of Hightower accessing theschool’s campus. Since traffic on CrowCreek Road will increase in any event, themore logical strategy is to rely on CrowCreek Road and the Crow Creek - ArlbergConnector for route redundancy and trafficdistribution.

Upon full implementation of this plan,including the six roadway projects listedabove, most of the issues associated withemergency access to points in the Valleywill have been resolved. There will be tworoutes to the Prince Hotel and the newresort base over two different GlacierCreek bridges. The school will beaccessible via two routes and two differentbridges over California Creek. Every areain the Valley will have more than onepotential access/egress route.

Commercial Area Parking

Automobile parking is essential to thesuccess of commercial development.Although public transit, walking andbicycling will all increase in the Valley inthe future, automobile access will still beessential to the achievement of localobjectives for commercial development.Two areas currently experience parkingproblems that are addressed by this plan:

New Townsite (Downtown)

The commercial parking issue in the NewTownsite is one of the principal reasonsthe area has not developed in the yearssince it was platted. The parcel size in thearea is too small to allow good commercialdevelopment to occur with parkingrequirements met on-site.

A 1995 report to the Municipal Assemblyrecommended that about 80 supplemental

parking spaces be provided on municipallyowned lands around the New TownsiteSquare (the report’s Alternative A). Thesespaces would be used to meet the parkingrequirements of the municipal parkingordinance, thereby removing a keydeterrent to further commercialdevelopment and redevelopment in thisarea. The commercial development planfor the New Townsite (Chapter 9) showsthe layout of this parking system.Development of the parking would beclosely integrated with pedestrianimprovements, park improvements andlocal street improvements.

Implementing this plan may requireestablishment of a parking benefit districtin the new townsite with both taxes andpayments in lieu of on-site parking used tofund the supplemental parking supply.

Olympic Circle Area

There is a need to increase the capacity ofthe current surface lot, which is poorlyconfigured. Required improvementsinclude paving, improving access, bettersignage and providing for pedestriancirculation around and within this facility.Over the long term, the completeredevelopment of the resort base andOlympic Circle areas could be encouragedand greatly enhanced by the developmentof an underground parking structure here.

Fig. 7-4New Townsite parkingimprovements.Numbers indicateparking spaces addedon-street and in publiclots to the east and west

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New Townsite Streets

In the three and a half decades since itwas platted, the New Girdwood Townsitehas waited in vain for commercialdevelopment. Improvements along theSeward Highway into Anchorage mayprovide some impetus for development inGirdwood’s downtown, but there are otherreasons that may explain why commercialdevelopment has not happened. Principalamong these may be the condition of thelocal streets themselves.

Paving of New Townsite Streets

The streets around the New TownsiteSquare (Hightower Road, HolmgrenAvenue, Lindblad Avenue and GirdwoodPlace) should be paved to improve winterdriving and walking conditions and toreduce particulate pollution in the summerand fall. This plan calls for thedevelopment of boardwalks and arcades

along the retail frontage to provide apedestrian environment. Snow storageshould be accomplished in the spacebetween the boardwalk and the edge ofthe street. Drainage systems willeventually be required as part of thedevelopment of these streets, but could bepostponed to a later phase.

Reconstruction of Hightower Road

This key local road from Alyeska Highwayto the community school should bereconstructed in the New Townsite area toprovide on-street parking and goodsidewalks (as well as a more definedroadway edge). This will be help toencourage linear commercial developmentalong Hightower as a new “Main Street” inthe New Townsite. (See Chapter 9.)

Neighborhood Connectivity andDistribution of Traffic

A glance at the graphic of local roads inthe Timberline/Alpine neighborhood givesan indication of how residentialdevelopment might proceed if there wereno guidelines to the contrary. While roadsnear the old resort based are gridded andwell connected to one another, roadwaysto the south and west are circuitous anddiscontinuous. The entire subdivision ispoorly connected to Alyeska Highway andto the rest of the community. While thismay seem attractive to property ownersbecause it conveys exclusivity andprivacy, it is poor design in terms of trafficdistribution and auto dependence.

Winding, poorly connected road systemsdiscourage walking and cause auto tripsto be long and indirect. They also causeconflicts as additional residential projectsare developed in disconnected pods.Connecting roadways, which are needed,are opposed by nearby property owners.The overall result is a confusing,disconnected local street system thatplaces all traffic, including local traffic, oncollectors and arterial roadways. This hasnot yet been a serious problem in theGirdwood Valley because little residentialdevelopment has occurred. However, inthe future, if a better road network is notdeveloped, this will become a significant

Fig. 7-5Winding street pattern

in Alyeska Basinsubdivision is an

impediment toconnectivity

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problem detracting from quality of life inthe Valley and contributing to anunsustainable settlement pattern.

To prevent an undesirable pattern ofdevelopment and an unworkable roadsystem, the Municipality will impose threedesign requirements on local commercialand residential development projects:

• Collector roadways mapped on theroadway plan shall be built as part ofany project through which theroadway passes (each landowner’ssegment being that owner’sresponsibility) and shall be developedto the standards contained in theOfficial Streets and Highways Planand the Title 22 Girdwood Land UseRegulations.

• Within contiguous residential andcommercial developments, no localroadways may be developed that arelonger than 150 feet unless they areconnected to another roadway ateach end.

• Within contiguous residential andcommercial developments, localroadways shall have at least 14intersections per mile.

The combination of a 150-foot limit ondead-end streets with a requirement for atleast 14 intersections per mile will result ina well connected street grid with blocks ofabout 350 to 400 feet in length. Thesedesign requirements do not mandate arectilinear grid, or even an overly uniformgrid. They will, however, result in anetwork that will distribute traffic evenlyand equitably and will ensure good accessfor emergency services equipment. Sucha street network will reduce the daily milesof vehicular travel in the valley byproviding direct, non-circuitous routes fordrivers and by encouraging walking andbicycling.

Alyeska Highway:Speeds and Traffic Calming

As traffic grows on Alyeska Highwaythrough the core area (ultimately to over10,000 vehicles per day), the land usesalong it are in danger of becoming overlyauto-dominated. It will be important toresidents and visitors that steps be takento control speeds and safety. The NewTownsite downtown area will thrive only ifpedestrians are comfortable walking nearand across the highway.

Fig. 7-6Recommended traffic-calming measures onAlyeska Highway throughthe New Townsite

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Alyeska Highway was originally designedto meet rural highway standards, whichare no longer appropriate as the Valleybecomes a more residential andcommercial community. The portion of thehighway that is east of the Crow CreekRoad intersection should be reconstructedto an urban cross-section, with sidewalksand crosswalks for pedestrians and withchoke points at several places in thecorridor. In this way it will begin tofunction more like a downtown street.Posted speeds will be lowered inconnection with these physical changes.Bus pullout bays would be provided at keypoints in the corridor.

As part of this reconstruction, the CrowCreek Road/Alyeska Highway intersectionwill be reconfigured. The intersection willmark the boundary between the ruralhighway section and the “downtownstreet” section. Reconstruction of theintersection will include improvedintersection layout as well as an entry orgateway feature that announces to driversthat they are entering a communityneighborhood and must slow down.

Reconstruction of the AlyeskaHighway/Hightower intersection will alsobe critically important and should be givena high priority. This plan calls for curbextensions and patterned crosswalks atthis intersection.

Over time, if the New Townsite is to thriveand become the Valley’s downtown, theAlyeska Highway must be tamed andspeeds calmed to accommodate a highernumber of vehicular turning movementsand to provide a safer environment forpedestrians. A wide, straight road with novisual obstructions is an invitation tospeed. The entire highway segment fromthe curve at Crow Creek to its intersectionwith Arlberg Road should eventually beretrofitted with traffic calming designfeatures that cause drivers to slow downand reduce pedestrian crossing times.

Projects and RoadwaysNo Longer Planned

The Transportation Master Plan proposesthe elimination of roadway segments that

had been previously planned orconsidered. These include:

Link from the New Townsiteto Crow Creek Road

Various maps have in the past shown adirect roadway connection from LindbladAvenue in the New Townsite up to CrowCreek Road. The physical feasibility ofthis connection is doubtful due to thegrade difference between the tworoadways. However, a pedestrian trailconnection exists in this corridor.

Timberline to AlyeskaHighway Collector

The Municipality’s Official Streets andHighways Plan includes a proposedcollector street running south from AlyeskaHighway along the western edge ofAlyeska Basin Subdivision, turning westand crossing Glacier Creek to reconnectwith the highway just north of the waterand sewer plant. (See Map 10.) ThisPlan proposes to delete that roadway, asother recommendations for emergencyegress will make it redundant.

Reconfiguation of the Alyeska Hwy. /Arlberg Road Intersection

There has been interest in reconfiguringthe “T” intersection at the end of AlyeskaHighway to improve vehicular flow, toimprove wayfinding, and to improveaccess to ski base parking. However, noclear strategy or design that wouldaddress this issue without significantimpacts to private property has beenidentified.

Extension of Gold AvenueEast of the Original Townsite

Previous Official Streets and HighwaysPlans included the extension of the GoldAvenue collector roadway into thewetlands along the Seward Highway andeast of the original townsite. This nolonger appears warranted by anticipateddevelopment patterns.