Federal highway agency seeks bids to replace Far North Bicentennial Park trail bridge

The Federal Highway Administration is taking bids until 2 pm Pacific time Dec. 1 to replace the North Gasline Trail bridge in Anchorage's Far North Bicentennial Park with an 80-foot prefabricated steel span.

The bridge crosses the North Fork of Campbell Creek about three-quarters of a mile south of the Klutina Drive trail access. The contractor must remove the existing bridge and deliver its salvaged pieces to the Municipality of Anchorage.

The Municipality says the trail crossing lacks a bridge or boardwalks over class A wetlands and Campbell Creek, which damages the ecosystem and breaks trail connectivity. It says the new bridges are designed to be wider, with a larger weight capacity for equipment and emergency vehicles. The work came out of a public process under the Far North Bicentennial Park Trail Improvement Plan, and the city says it is funded through a Federal Lands Access Program grant.

The contract also calls for a 61-foot boardwalk. An optional 51-foot boardwalk would push the finish date from Aug. 10, 2027, to Sept. 1, 2027. The boardwalk sites are 1.2 and 1.4 miles in from the Basher Drive trail access by way of the Tank Trail. Those dates assume the winning bidder gets the go-ahead by Jan. 21, 2027.

The agency estimates the job will cost between $700,000 and $2 million. The solicitation gives a price preference to small businesses in federal Historically Underutilized Business Zones, known as HUBZones. It says an award depends on available funding.

Crews must post trail closure maps at the Klutina, North Bivouac and Basher Drive trailheads and where the Bulldog and Tank trails meet. They must also announce the work in local newspapers and on the radio. They may not clear vegetation from May 1 to July 15, when birds nest. They must locate buried gas lines and keep food away from wildlife.