Early next year, the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities will launch a $20 million to $30 million renovation of Egan Drive between 10th Street and Mendenhall Loop Road.
The project is the largest of a series of state projects scheduled in Juneau for the next construction season. Also planned is a $10 million reconstruction of Glacier Highway in Auke Bay, a $4.5 million renovation of Glacier Highway from Point Lena to Tee Harbor and a $631,000 project to install adaptive traffic signals in the Mendenhall Valley.
Bidding on the 8-mile Egan Drive project opened Nov. 20 and is expected to close Dec. 15. According to state documents, the epicenter of the project will take place at Salmon Creek, where DOT will widen the Egan Drive bridge and completely rebuild the nearby intersection to accommodate longer turn lanes and on/off ramps.
Elsewhere, DOT’s selected contractor will remove the top half-inch of pavement from Egan Drive and add two new inches of asphalt atop the road, creating a fresh surface for drivers.
The last significant resurfacing of Egan Drive was 15 years ago, and the road is beginning to develop ruts from studded tire use. Once resurfaced, the highway is expected to last for another 15 years.
Nearly 10 miles of new guardrail will be installed along the highway as well.
The project’s schedule calls for work in the Salmon Creek area to start in March or April and continue through the end of August.
Asphalt work is scheduled to begin in June and continue through the end of August. The contractor is being told by DOT to avoid work during rush hour.
More information will be published when the winning bid is announced.
The $10 million Auke Bay project will repave Glacier Highway from Fritz Cove to Seaview Avenue, renovating the pavement on Glacier Highway around the new roundabout.
New lights will illuminate the highway, a new sidewalk will be built on the water side of the highway, and an 8-foot shoulder will accommodate a bike lane.
That project is expected to be open for bids in mid-December.
Farther north, another paving project will remodel 1.8 miles of Glacier Highway, from Campground Creek to Point Stephens Road.
SECON was the lowest bidder on the project, with an estimate of $3.5 million. The engineer’s estimate was $4.5 million.
According to project documents, SECON will increase the highway’s shoulder widths to six feet on either side, allowing pedestrians and bicylists to more safely use that stretch of highway.
Car travel lanes will be narrowed from 12 feet wide to 11 feet wide during that process.
According to project documents, the work is to be finished by Aug. 1.
In the Mendenhall Valley, the state is preparing to pay for the installation of adaptive traffic signals that allow cars to move based not on timing but on traffic demand.
Bids were opened Oct. 28 on that project, and Island Electric had the lowest bid at $935,000. The engineer’s estimate was $631,000.
In November 2016, the state is expected to begin seeking bids for the resurfacing of Egan Drive from 10th Street to Main Street. That $5 million to $10 million effort, anticipated for 2017, will also include a new retaining wall underneath Merchants’ Wharf.
Also that year, the state is expected to renovate the walking and biking path in Lemon Creek along Glacier Highway.
• Contact assistant editor James Brooks at 523.2258 or at james.k.brooks@morris.com.
