If you have followed the news lately, you might have heard a slew of reports about how the dubious Knik Arm Crossing is being fast tracked by the State of Alaska and the Anchorage transportation committee to be on the short list of prioritized projects, which may result in funds being gobbled up by the bridge at the expense of more pressing transportation needs for the city in the next couple of decades. Among the projects moved to the back burner is the
Highway 2 Highway (H2H) project, which would have connected the Seward and Glenn highways together, making for a seamless glide through the city while at the same time restoring the neighborhood of Fairview back to its former glory, before two sets of four-lane roads with heavy traffic tore through the hood some 35 years ago. From what I've observed, the project was a bit controversial when it was first brought up, perhaps because it gave some residents a sense of déjà vu of a time in the 1950s and 60s when planners across the country promised that large concrete highways tearing through neighborhoods and struggling downtowns would be the solution to all of the city's problems. But I've long thought this project in particular was different. If anything, this H2H project would reflect the changes other cities across America have made to their urban highways in the last 20 years or so, which is to either dismantle them altogether, or bury them underground. H2H proposes the latter, which is to build the highway on sort of a ditch, or depressed ground, and then "cover" the highway with new real estate that would be used for either parkland or buildings. Anyways the
Anchorage Press did an article this week on the predicament and what solutions may be possible to get the project started sooner. A snippet from the article:
"The project had been listed as a “top priority to contain Anchorage
congestion” under the city’s current transportation plan. But in the
Metropolitan Transportation Plan 2035, set to be adopted by the
Anchorage Assembly in late April, the connecting corridor has turned
from shortlist mega project to dream deferred. Now in the long-term list
of transportation projects, it’s tentatively slated to begin anywhere
from 2024 to 2045".
