By Chase Berenson

TNews Staffwriter

At the March 9th meeting of Anchorage’s Planning and Zoning Commission, the Commissioners unanimously passed PZC Case 2026-0042 to change the definition of the Girdwood Airport (GA) zoning district in a way which would allow a heliport and explosives depot to be built in the southeastern reaches of Glacier Valley.  There is a lot to unpack in that sentence, but this work ensures the safety of Alaskans will improve while driving the Seward Highway in winter.

According to Alaska Statute (AS) 19.05.030 the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT) has nine legally enshrined duties, and number seven on the list is to “develop and implement an avalanche control plan to protect persons who use public highways.”  To perform that duty, the DOT created the Snow Avalanche Program to improve motorist safety by reducing avalanche hazards while also minimizing avalanche-related traffic delays and road closures.  The Snow Avalanche Program has existed since the 1970s and their tools and methods of work have changed dramatically over the decades.

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/glacier-valleys-heliport-and-explosives-depot-moves-closer-to-construction

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

Under the purview of a retired superior court judge, a group of residents in the tiny, end-of-the-road town of Hope have reached a deal with operators of a popular music park. 

A memorandum of understanding, struck between Creekbend Company and Friends of Hope, was forged March 20 and cleared the state Alcohol Control Board this week. It sets allowable noise levels, limits attendance, and regulates parking at the venue, among other conditions.

"Overall, I'm feeling very good about it," said Liam Bureau, vice president of Friends of Hope. "It feels very fair to me. In the true definition and spirit of compromise, both parties conceded significant things. And that's what allowed us to meet in the middle."

Conflict between some property owners and Creekbend has been brewing since the company began to expand its event grounds, add music acts and amplify sound. They complained about cars blocking driveways, public inebriation and unauthorized camping in a community that lacks a local police force and relies on a volunteer fire brigade.

"Based on what had happened so far—really the last almost decade leading up to this—this will be certainly the largest conversation that's happened around this topic within the community, and also this will lead to the most concrete changes of anything so far," Bureau said.

Messages sent to Creekbend were not returned in time for publication. 

From now on, according to the MOU, no more than 700 people can attend an event at Creekbend and it must designate at least three "amplified-music-free" weekends between May and September in the coming year.

Sound levels at the company's property cannot exceed 65 decibels between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. and the MOU limits noise to 50 decibels outside those hours. 

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/aggrieved-hope-residents-and-creekbend-reach-agreement-on-new-rules-for-music-venue

By Chase Berenson

TNews Staffwriter

The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT) has been receiving bids for multiple projects in March that have potential to impact Girdwood residents and frequent Seward Highway drivers.  Two different projects both had due dates for bids last month: a project to install variable speed limit signs and a project to resurface the pavement of the Highway.

The announcement of these projects comes just weeks after the controversial Safer Seward Highway project public comment period ended on February 27th.

One of the two projects is looking for vendors to plan and design variable speed limit (VSL) signs for the Seward Highway from milepost 90 to milepost 118, or approximately from Girdwood in the south to Rabbit Creek Road in the north.  This encompasses the entire area of the Safer Seward Highway project plus nine additional miles.  VSL signs allow the DOT to modify the speed limit of the Seward Highway electronically, particularly in adverse conditions such as winter weather.  This work will be paired with VSL installations on the Richardson Highway near Fairbanks.

The DOT claims that this project will reduce car crashes caused by winter weather because the speed limit will be dynamically adjusted based on weather and road conditions in real-time.  The VSL installation project will also integrate real-time data from the DOT’s Road Weather Information System (RWIS) sites and traffic count stations.  During the design phase of the project, the DOT intends to install four more traffic count stations and multiple new RWIS sites to ensure there is enough data to make educated decisions along the entire VSL section of the Highway.  The DOT anticipates installing at least 16 VSL signs in the 28-mile stretch of the Seward Highway.  This project is modeled after a similar VSL project on Interstate 80 in Wyoming.

Within this section of highway, the speed limit is currently a fixed number which does not change due to conditions.  From milepost 90 to approximately milepost 100, the speed limit is 65 miles per hour (MPH); from approximately milepost 100 to approximately milepost 118, the speed limit is 55 MPH.  This speed limit does not change with the weather or road conditions, however even if driving under the posted speed limit drivers could still by cited by the Anchorage Police Department for violating 13 AAC 02.275(a) which states, “No person may drive a vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent considering the traffic, roadway, and weather conditions.”

This project will include many phases of work, including planning, design, public involvement, speed study, utility coordination, and others.  After two years of project planning and design, construction is scheduled to begin on May 15th, 2028.  As of April 1st, there is no publicly available information on which companies submitted bids for this work nor for how much they bid.

The other Seward Highway project is looking for companies to resurface the pavement of the Seward Highway from milepost 90 to milepost 99.  This work is outside the geographic extent of the larger Safer Seward Highway project, and is fully encompassed within the VSL project area.  In addition to resurfacing the Seward Highway itself, this project will also resurface the Indian to Girdwood Bike Path, more commonly known as the Bird-to-Gird, within the same area of Highway mileposts 90 to 99.  More than simply resurfacing the pavement of the road and path, this project will also include repairs to culverts and upgrades to guardrails and signs along the Highway.

Read the entire story at the link below:

https://www.turnagainnews.org/articles/dot-plans-for-years-of-seward-highway-construction