Federal grant puts $1.3 million toward Healy walking and biking path

The Federal Highway Administration has now committed more than $1.3 million to a separated walking and biking path in Healy connecting Tri-Valley School to the surrounding neighborhoods, according to federal spending records. Most of that money was added since July, including about $608,000 on Sept. 18.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is designing the project with the Denali Borough, which proposed it. The state's most recent public notice describes an 8-foot-wide paved path connecting Healy Spur Road, School Road, the school grounds, Coal Street, Dry Creek Drive and Suntrana Avenue. The work also includes drainage, roadside signs and utility work. A state project record lists a state match of about $190,000.

The path was one of the higher-scoring rural projects in the state's 2023 round of Transportation Alternatives Program funding, which pays for projects like trails, sidewalks and bike paths. A separate Denali Borough project, a path along the Parks Highway from Healy to the Antler Ridge area, scored slightly higher in the same round.

The state has said construction is planned for 2027. The federal funding runs through 2029.