Mountain Air Drive plans narrow the road at Bear Valley Elementary to 28 feet

The stretch of Mountain Air Drive that carries parents to Bear Valley Elementary School would get narrower after reconstruction, not wider. The design goes before the Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday. It would shrink the pavement between Rabbit Creek Road and the school from about 36 feet to 28 feet. A project memorandum states the road project "does not resolve the on-site queuing issues at Bear Valley Elementary."

The reconstruction is part of a larger project. The Mountain Air Drive Extension would build less than a mile of new roadway from Sandpiper Drive to Rabbit Creek Road, according to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. The work would add a secondary access route to Fire Station 10 and Bear Valley Elementary, an 8-foot paved multi-use pathway, a 25 mph design speed, and emergency and disaster egress for nearby neighborhoods.

HDL Engineering Consultants project manager Stephanie Mormilo wrote the memorandum to satisfy a 2023 commission condition. It documents an April 2023 field visit with Anchorage School District staff during afternoon pickup. Cars lined up before 3 p.m. ahead of a 3:30 dismissal. The line reached Mountain Air Drive by 3:15 p.m. and Rabbit Creek Road by 3:37 p.m. Some buses had to wait in the blocked roadway.

The school enrolled 301 students in 2025-26 against a capacity of 461. It has no approved walking route, so all students are bused or driven. Four buses serve the school. Roughly 20 vehicles can stack on school property before the line spills onto the street. The narrowed section would not allow a full lane of queuing as the existing road does. Mormilo wrote that there should be adequate space for two-way traffic during the short queuing period, and that a planned second driveway should reduce cars approaching from Rabbit Creek Road. Municipal Traffic Engineer Brad Coy concurred that the condition is resolved.

A separate Kinney Engineering analysis recommends leaving the Rabbit Creek Road and Mountain Air Drive intersection as is. It deems turn pockets, a signal and a roundabout unwarranted. Anchorage's 2010 Hillside Subarea Transportation Study had recommended turn lanes and cautioned that 3,000 to 4,000 daily trips near the school "may not be desirable." Projected 2048 daily traffic is 1,315 vehicles north of the school and 847 south.

The application documents public support for a separated multi-use pathway. Residents also asked for non-motorized facilities on both sides of the roadway. The project team said that could not be justified because adopted codes do not require a second facility, and it would require additional right-of-way and environmental impacts. Residents raised concerns about school-related traffic backing onto Rabbit Creek Road and about drivers speeding on the corridor, which the reduced design speed responds to. Many said they want the project built sooner rather than later to provide secondary access. Reviewing agencies filed no objections, and the Planning Department reported it received no public comments on the case.