By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times
After a one-year delay, the Alaska State Department of Transportation will finally embark upon paving Crow Creek Road this summer. This was one of several highlighted agenda items at the Girdwood Valley Area Board of Supervisors meeting held March 19.
In addition to the paving of Crow Creek Road, discussion was held on establishing taxi service in Girdwood and developing the first phase of the municipalities’ Crow Creek development project.
Paving Crow Creek Road will cost an estimated $4 million, said Project Manager Jim Amundsen. He told the supervisors that along with the road being paved, a new bridge would be constructed over California Creek. Amundsen said the bridge could take three months to build, after which, they would begin paving Crow Creek Road.
The road will have a two-foot shoulder for pedestrians and bikers to use, and it will be 28 feet wide with 12-foot lanes.
“It should be more than enough for RV’s,” Amundsen said. “The perception is that if an RV’s coming, the road will appear narrower than it is because they’re not used to a narrow road like this. This is to get them to slow down.”
The speed limit posting will be 30 mph. Amundsen said he doesn’t believe the pavement will create more traffic along the road.
“The actual number of cars we’re expecting is not going to change,” he said.
Bridge construction is expected to start in July, and paving of the road would follow with its completion slated at the end of July ’08.
A transportation task force headed by Board Supervisor Tim Cabana and Girdwood 20/20 representative Diana Stone Livingston reported to the board about establishing a taxi service or shuttle bus service in Girdwood. Studies they said have been conducted to acquire funding for a minivan. Grant money may be available to start a shuttle service through an appropriation of funds established for Girdwood and Anchorage by Congressman Don Young. A taxi permit may also be acquired for Girdwood, but the company would have to utilize an Anchorage dispatcher, they said.
Larry Daniels, Mountain Manager of Alyeska Resort, said the resort is interested in sharing its shuttle buses and operation costs with an independent contractor to service the community.
“Mass transit is what we have to have to make this a better community,” said Daniels.
Bill Connell, owner of Girdwood Suite Retreat, stepped forward and expressed his interest in the operational part of the business.
Jim Galenes of Boutet Inc. spoke on behalf of the Heritage Land Bank, which is overseeing the Crow Creek development project owned by the municipality.
Galenes outlined the first phase of a development along Glacier Creek. There are 36 lots being considered for development each three quarters of an acre in size, which would make them some of the largest lots in the valley with an estimated value between $150,000 and $400,000 depending on market conditions.
Galenes stated that a high density of trails would be integrated into the development, and would connect with the adjacent Iditarod National Historic Trail.
Jacques Boutet, Principal of the company, stressed the importance of community involvement in determining the final design of the development. The timeline to begin construction would be 2008 or 2009.
Infrastructure such as water and sewer lines must be developed first, however, at the nearby elementary school before development of the lots can move forward. Galenes said upgrades to the school’s infrastructure, coinciding with the development of the lots, makes the project much more cost-effective.
How the lots are sold is still being worked out, he said.