On the Kenai Peninsula, the end of winter comes with the return of the midnight sun and salmon, an influx of tourists and fireweed and a welcome reprieve from the cold and dark. But the change in seasons also means road work, and the traffic jams that come with it. This year will be no different.
State transportation officials have outlined more than a dozen new and existing road projects that will be underway around the borough this year.
Drivers will encounter familiar delays in Cooper Landing, where crews have already resumed work on the massive highway bypass project. This year, work will continue on a steel arch bridge over Juneau Creek and highway upgrades between the Sunrise Inn and the east entrance of Skilak Lake Road.
In the coming weeks, almost two miles of the Sterling Highway will close for two six-hour chunks of time for blasting work around Milepost 46. The closure impacts the highway between the Sunrise Inn and the project’s eastern end.
The first closure starts at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Apr. 30 and will last until 2 a.m. on Friday, May 1. The second closure starts at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 7 and ends at 2 a.m. on Friday, May 8.
Other ongoing projects include the second phase of improvements to the Kenai Spur Highway between Swires and Sports Lake roads. Last year, the department broke ground on the project’s final phase, which aims to make the 5.7 mile section of road safer. When completed, the highway will widen from three to five lanes and have continuous lighting.
There are a handful of new projects planned for the central peninsula, too.
Drivers may have noticed fewer trees along the Sterling Highway between Sterling and Soldotna. It’s part of planned safety improvements to that stretch of highway, which the state has flagged as having higher-than-average rates of serious vehicle crashes. A final design for the highway is pending, but project leaders have floated more lanes and a depressed median.
Elsewhere on the peninsula, planned work ranges from the reconstruction of the Seward Highway railroad crossing near Seward and pavement improvements in Homer and Anchor Point. That’s in addition to the installation of a flashing light at the intersection of the Sterling Highway and Kalifornsky Beach Road and the rehabilitation of Redoubt Avenue and Smith Way in Soldotna.
Up-to-date road conditions, including construction-related delays, can be found online.
