State's draft road plan puts about $551 million into Kenai Peninsula projects; comments due Oct. 29

The state's draft road plan for the next four years puts about $551 million into 10 Kenai Peninsula highway and road projects, most of it on three big stretches of the Sterling Highway. Residents have until 5 pm Oct. 29 to weigh in.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities released the draft 2027–2030 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program on Sept. 14. It covers October 2026 through September 2030 and has not been adopted or federally approved. The department says it will respond to comments and revise the plan before sending it to the Federal Highway and Federal Transit administrations.

The largest share goes to the Cooper Landing bypass, which builds about 10 miles of new highway north of Cooper Landing and the Kenai River, reconstructs about five more miles and adds a new bridge over Juneau Creek. The draft adds $236 million to the project, including $145 million in 2027 to build from the Juneau Creek bridge area to Milepost 60. With $581 million already committed and $54 million more planned this year, the draft now forecasts the bypass will cost about $872 million in all.

Between Sterling and Soldotna, on a stretch the state named a traffic safety corridor in 2009 because of safety concerns, the draft sets aside $126.5 million in 2029 to rebuild Milepost 90 to 94. Money for the first section, Milepost 82.5 to 90, is in the current year's plan. The project widens the highway to four lanes and adds turn lanes, frontage roads and a separated bike and pedestrian path.

Near Homer, $119.9 million in 2027 would rebuild the Sterling Highway from Anchor Point to Baycrest Hill with a wider road and passing lanes. The work includes a new bridge over the North Fork Anchor River in place of culverts and a replacement for the South Fork Anchor River Bridge, built in 1959 and rated in poor condition.

The draft also puts $36.8 million into rebuilding the intersection where the Seward and Sterling highways meet, with construction in 2029.

About $345 million of the peninsula money, spread across the Cooper Landing, Sterling-to-Soldotna and highway junction projects and a Kalifornsky Beach Road culvert, is advance construction. That lets the state start work with nonfederal money and convert the costs to federal funds later. The draft doesn't schedule any of those conversions until after the plan's four years end.

The rest is smaller work. The plan includes $8 million in 2027 to replace a culvert at Mile 11.7 of Kalifornsky Beach Road near Kenai that the department says doesn't drain properly. Homer would get $6.1 million in 2028 to protect the Sterling Highway from erosion along the Homer Spit and $3.1 million in 2027 for about 4,950 feet of new sidewalk. Another $6.55 million would pay for design and right-of-way to raise and widen 3.5 miles of Kachemak Bay Drive, Homer's designated tsunami evacuation route, with construction, estimated at $33 million, after 2030. In Soldotna, $5.6 million in 2027 would rebuild Redoubt Avenue and Smith Way.

The draft also includes $2 million in 2027 for design and right-of-way on a new route for the Kenai Spur Highway around the proposed LNG plant in Nikiski, which has not been built. The draft forecasts the reroute at $40 million in all, most of it after 2030.

At a Senate Transportation Committee hearing on the draft Sept. 24, committee chair Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, said residents are worried about bluff erosion near Mile 25 of the Kenai Spur, near South Miller Loop Road, where he said the edge is probably within 40 feet of the highway's white line. He asked when the reroute could happen, warning that without action "that road is going to be occupying the inlet."

In Seward, a $6.1 million project with the Alaska Railroad would expand the freight dock at the Seward Marine Terminal and build an airport connector road, using a $4.9 million federal grant awarded in 2022 and $1.2 million from the railroad.

The department will hold a virtual public meeting on the draft Oct. 6 from 4 to 5:30 pm on Zoom, webinar ID 833 4226 0703, or by phone at 1-253-215-8782. Comments can be submitted online, by email to [email protected], by voicemail at 1-855-925-2801 using project code 10968, or by text to the same number starting with the word STIP. Alaska Relay users can dial 711 or 1-800-770-8973. Mailed comments must arrive by the deadline at either the STIP Team, 550 W. Seventh Ave., Suite 295, Anchorage, AK 99501, or the Division of Statewide Planning, P.O. Box 112500, Juneau, AK 99811-2500.