Project # CFHWY00604 / Federal # 0001659

Spenard Road Rehabilitation: Minnesota Drive to Benson Boulevard

 

What's New

• View the selected typical section here and see the 40% design roll plot that was presented at the January 2023 Anchorage Transportation Fair.
• The environmental document, a Categorical Exclusion, has been approved and is posted on the Documents/Links page.
• The project is going through the Municipality of Anchorage’s Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) process. The Design Study Report/Alternatives Analysis was approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission on April 11, 2022. The approved report is available on the Municipality's City View Portal (Case #2022-0031) and a high resolution version of the report is available here.

Project Overview and Background

This project is the third phase of a longer-term effort to improve the northern segment of Spenard Road between the Minnesota Drive on-ramp to the north and the intersection with Minnesota Drive to the south. The first two phases of this work were led and funded by the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA). This third phase focuses on the section between Benson Boulevard and Minnesota Drive. Design of this phase is federally funded and will be led by DOT&PF, in collaboration with MOA.

This project will address operational, safety, pedestrian, and transit issues including:

• Concerns about collision rates at intersections along the corridor
• Current pedestrian and transit facilities that are minimal or non-existent

DOT&PF is proposing to rehabilitate this section of Spenard Road to:

• Improve safety for all users
• Bring the roadway and non-motorized facilities up to current design standards

Background

This effort started as a Highway Safety Improvement Project in the early 2000s. A Preliminary Engineering Report, completed in 2007, established design standards for the corridor and recommended a three-lane roadway alternative for Spenard Road from Hillcrest Drive south to the intersection with Minnesota Drive.