|
|
|
|
|
| 269 |
No
Comments |
| 270 |
I
support minimal changes to Abbott Loop Road. I believe the plan is D.
By adding a turn lane Abbott Loop Road will be much safer. The center
island with vegetation will provide a safer crossing for pedestrians.
A less extensive design will provide more funds to be spent on the bridge
to the north. It is critical that fish and wildlife residing in Anchorage
continue to survive. Without it, we will all begin to wonder why we live
in Alaska. |
| 271 |
I
want to let you know of my continued support for this extension. I live
off of upper O'Malley and remember a meeting concerning upgrading O'Malley.
At that meeting, someone said the most effective and inexpensive way to
prevent moose/auto collisions was to install more lighting, which is obviously
needed on O'Malley. Persons living along the road though complained this
would obscure the stars and ruin their night view. I recall living in
California that there are street lights which are capped to deflect all
light to the ground because Light Pollution is becoming an issue in California.
I hope you might be investigating using this type of lighting for this
extension because Moose/auto collisions and light pollution will surely
be an issue here. |
| 272 |
First
of all, thank you and the Municipality of Anchorage for taking the time
to review my comments and, hopefully, address them. I have some very important
concerns regarding the proposed Abbott Loop Extension project.Let me state
for the record that I am firmly opposed to this project and would like
to see it cancelled indefinitely, with the affected lands added to Bicentennail
Park and given permanent protection status. I firmly believe that these
precious remnants of relatively undisturbed lands represent an important
and vital part of the natural ecosystems of the Anchorage Bowl. Wild lands
such as these are becoming increasingly in the rare in the Anchorage Bowl
and it would be careless and foolish to develop them for yet another road
project. Such a road will only provide temporary relief for some traffic
in Anchorage as the city continues to grow, but it will not fix the root
problem. Not only will this road negatively impact the flora and fauna
of the area, but it will also negatively impact the quality of life of
people in Anchorage even though it is intended to relieve traffic congestion
in the Anchorage Bowl and supposedly improve quality of life for residents.
I will explain this in greater detail later further in any summary.I would
like to note that I was very disappointed with the visual materials placed
on the walls at this public meeting. It was not clear, from the materials
displayed, what the key differences were between the alternatives. In
addition, the NO ACTION alternative was not even posted for the public
to review. I was saddened, but also disgusted, to see such a poor effort
on the part of DOWL and/or the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) to inform
the public. I would expect more of both DOWL and MOA.I am very concerned
that one of the main drivers for this road extension might be developers
that have been trying to push this process through to help them complete
their special interest projects that will be positively affected by this
road.Also, even though voters recently approved a bond to fund this road
extension, I was under the impression that this road was not a "done
deal"- that the impacts were still being carefully studied and that
there was strong opinion that this extension would not go through. What
happened? Please explain.I strongly believe that the MOA, working in conjunction
with contractors, engineers, and residents, needs to look at alternatives
to address the growing traffic problems in Anchorage. As I mentioned previously,
building this Abbott Road Extension does not address the root problems
of traffic congestion in town, but is only a band-aid fix to a worsening
problem. The solution should not always be more roads. What about more
rapid transit/bus service, encouraging more carpooling, and placing more
emphasis on community town centers to reduce the commuting and driving
in town In addition, improving or modifying existing roads would greatly
help such congestion problems. The Tudor and Lake Otis intersection, for
example, needs an overpass like that at the intersection of Minnesota
Blvd. and International Airport Blvd.Quality of life for Anchorage residents
will be greatly reduced by construction of the Abbott Loop Extension for
the following reasons:· Increased noise for Hillside residents
due to the traffic on an otherwise quiet local road.· Increased
traffic for Hillside residents who currently enjoy a semi-rural road.
This road will become yet another busy trafficked corridor in Anchorage.
It is my understanding that a majority of residents in the area of the
proposed extension oppose this project.· Increased noise for those
trying to enjoy peace and quiet in Bicentennial Park. Tens of thousands
of people enjoy the quiet and wilderness of Bicentennial Park each year.
This park is used by many different user groups including walkers, families,
people walking their dogs, runners, skijouring, dog mushing, cross country
skiing, horseback riding, mountainbiking, running, orienteering, and a
variety of other outdoor activities. As one nears the north and south
boundaries of the park, traffic noise becomes very loud within the boundaries
of the park. Adding another noisy and busy road along Abbott Loop will
only worsen this problem and detract from the experience of the park users.·
Increased traffic at the Abbott Loop/Tudor Road and Abbott Loop/Abbott
Road intersections (which will ultimately not improve overall traffic
flow in Anchorage, but just shift it to different intersections).·
Increased light pollution for Hillside residents. These Hillside residents
are some of the last in Anchorage who enjoy the dark night skies and viewing
of stars and northern lights. The increase in light pollution form this
new road lighting and the cars using it will negatively impact the night
sky for hundreds, if not thousands of residents in that areas.·
Less wildlands to enjoy: wildlands and the trail systems in Anchorage
are some of the best per capita in the entire country, according to a
number of national surveys. Building the Abbott Loop Extension will take
out some of these trails, and destroy fragile ecosystems including several
acres of wetlands and cut off moose access to other parts of the park
area to the west of the proposed extension.· This road and the
damage to the area's wetlands will negatively impact water quality for
the area including several residents who are on well systems. In addition,
oils and grease from the vehicles using this new road will wash into the
wetlands and adjacent streams which are vital spawning areas for salmon.·
Increased garbage in our parks: I have walked in the woods adjacent to
O'Malley, Minnesota, Abbott Road, Rabbit Creek road, and other main travel
corridors in the Anchorage Bowl. I have seen tons of garbage including
55-gallon fuel drums, oil cans, paper and plastic trash, animal carcasses,
abandoned cars, and other human artifacts in the woods 20 and even 40
yards from the road on either side of it. This is disgusting and will
only continue as long as our culture tolerates it. This is what will happen
in the woods next to the Abbott Loop Extension and will result in greater
negative impacts to the wildlands and the environment that are being discussed
in construction plans ad public meetings.As many of us fear, Bicentennial
Park is suffering from a slow death by a thousand nibbles, on the north,
on the south, and now, as proposed, on the west sides. Eventually, I fear,
there will be nothing left as more roads, clearcuts and ballfields, city
facilities, power and water lines, and similar projects continue to chop
away at this amazing city park. Let us not do more damage to Bicentennial
Park and these remaining wildlands by building the Abbott Road Extension!If
this extension does go through (and I hope that it does not), I would
like to see tunnels along the road that would allow wildlife- moose, coyotes,
foxes and other mammals- safe passage under the roadway. I would like
to see safe passage engineered for wildlife, connecting their travel routes
to the other wildlands to the west of the proposed extension.The alternatives
proposed to extend bridge lengths to "avoid/reduce impacts on wetlands."
However, how do we know this will happen? Typically, a project such as
this begins to run over budget, then cuts are made to reign in the costs.
The first cuts are typically to mitigation efforts such as these "promised,"
and I am nearly certain that this is what would happen- the environment
would again suffer from the cuts and these fragile wetland systems will
be degraded, if not destroyed, like most in the Anchorage Bowl. Wetlands
continue to get filled in throughout the city, with very few remaining.
This proposed Abbott Loop Extension will greatly impact a special and
rare wetland habitat in Anchorage, near the confluence of a couple different
streams that need lots of land to flood, meander, and "live"
in. Hundreds of species of birds, ducks, geese, mammals, rodents, insects,
trees, plants, fungi, and other organisms rely upon these riparian areas
for their well-being. Building through area will cause irreparable harm,
and forever change the dynamics of this area.Thank you again for your
time. Please feel free to call me during the day or in the evenings if
you have questions. I look forward to your responses to my questions and
hope that the Municipality will carefully consider my concerns and I hope,
cancel this project. |
| 273 |
I
am against the Abbott Loop extension that will funnel traffic into the
lower Hillside area of Anchorage. I feel as though this project does not
face the real problem of providing access to the neiborhoods of the upper
Hillside. I feel that the access for these areas should be further east
and should come through Campbell Airstrip Road/Basher Road to the gas
pipline right-of-way along the area east of Service High School. this
should then be joined to Hillside Drive. This would put the traffic where
the majority of the users of the new thoroughfare reside. This route would
only require one traffic bridge not two as will the Abbott Loop Extension. |
| 274 |
I
have lived on Jupiter Drive off Abbott Road in Zodiak Manor for 21 1/2
years. While housing developments on two sides of the subdivision (Birch
Run and Sahalee) as well as the Simonian Ball fields have threatened or
caused increased traffic through the subdivision as well as caused increeased
traffic onto Abbott and Abbott Loop roads that makes it difficult to turn
out of or into Zodiak Manor during peak traffic hours at least the subdivisions
do not have direct access into the Zodiak Manor as a result of lengthy
negotiations with the developers. The proposed Bragaw Extension however
will not only result in large numbers of people cutting through the subdivision
in order to avoid the inevitable backed up traffic that will result from
people trying to turn onto Abbott Loop from Abbott or vice versa but also
make it nearly impossible for subdivision residents to exit onto either
Abbot or Abbott Loop roads. Enormous traffic jams will result from the
increased number of people who will come down or go up the hillside on
Abbott to go north on Abbott Loop to Bragaw and vice versa. I invite you
to park at the corner of Jupiter Drive and Abbott Roads between 7:30 and
8am on a weekday. In attempting to alleviate the four-sided bottleneck
that occurs at the intersection of Lake Otis and Tudor DOT will simply
be creating another even worse three-sided one at the T-intersection of
Abbott Loop and Abbott Roads. When you add onto that the tremendous impact
on the property owners along Abbott and Abbott Loop roads as well as those
in the nearby subdivisions particularly at that intersection in terms
of noise that will result from a widened road and the increased traffic
the very nature of the Hillside will be destroyed. From what I can tell
from the project descriptions and from the presentations so far there
has been no consideration given to this concern. Aside from not doing
the project at all which is the one I and many of my neighbors favor one
option would be to punch through Abbott Loop Road to O'Malley and upgrade
it but not make it into a fourlane road. Providing a turn lane would also
be necessary under either scenario. |
| 275 |
Once
again the great minds have come up with a work around for the real needed
issue of an overpass at Lake Otis. We'll spend 50+ million dollars to
extend to a dead end at Abbott road but we won't build the over or underpass
which will give us a real solution for our money. Is the church up on
the hill fighting the Lake Otis issue? For this kind of taxpayer's money
let's study all of the issues. Will we really get our money out of this
or will we now end up spending double in the future for what we really
need. My personal feeling is that this is a shortsighted goal. |
| 276 |
I
am concerned that this project and other Anchorage road projects are developed
independent of each other rather than with greater Anchorage considerations.
Whether Bragaw is to be extended from University/Providence/36th street
to the Glenn Hwy should be considered -- if this happens eventually then
there will be a major North-South through Anchorage route. The Abbott
Loop extension should be able to handle this traffic as should Abbott
Loop and Elmore Roads. Will a bridge across Knik Arm be built? If so where
will the Anchorage traffic dump be? Obviously the A-C Street bridge cannot
handle this traffic so will MatSu traffic be diverted through/toward Mountain
View? If so will this impact the northern end of Bragaw. If so can the
proposed Abbott Loop extension handle THIS traffic? Perhaps these projects
do not seem to be inter-connected by the planners. That means the planners
need to be thinking outside the box and planning ahead. |
| 277 |
We
support the project. We live in the Spring Hills Estates neighborhood
off of Abbott Road. The Abbott Loop Extension project will greatly benefit
us when we travel to points north of Anchorage. We will save a lot of
time bypassing downtown Anchorage on the Seward Highway/Glenn Highway
intersection on 5th Avenue or bypassing the Lake Otis/Tudor intersection.
We often bike and run in the Campbell Tract and greatly value this open
area. We believe that a well-designed connector road between Abbott Loop
and Tudor will actually open up more of the parkland in this area to recreation.
I encourage you to add a trailhead parking area along the new road for
that purpose as well as a parallel bike trail. Thank you for the opportunity
to comment. |
| 278 |
I
favor the Bragaw Extension. I have lived on Abbott Loop Rd. and now live
just above it. I strongly support planned growth and adequate roads must
be a necessary part of growth. |
| 279 |
As
I stated in the last comment period: I am opposed to the extension. If
this road is pushed through and people upon coming to Tudor would make
a left and proceed west there would be more traffic going west on Tudor
before Lake Otis clogging up the Tudor/Lake Otis interchange. It would
just shift the traffic from making a left hand turn onto Tudor at Lake
Otis to making a left at Bragaw and the same amount of traffic would end
up at the Tudor/Lake Otis intersection. |
| 280 |
Build
it and they will come. |
| 281 |
I
think it's outrageous that you would reek havoc on neighborhoods and parkland
just so people can save 15 minutes in commute time. Slowly but surely
Anchorage is being ruined by over-development. The baseball fields were
bad enough. |
| 282 |
Having
recently seen some outstanding examples of roadway lighting design in
Canada, I look forward to seeing some improvement here in Anchorage on
the new Abbott extension. By improvements I mean compared with the new
lighting on the Old Seward highway between Dimond and Dowling. The height
of those lamps is about right (20 feet?) But the fixtures are of a drop-down
design and scatter light in all directions… especially into these
old eyes of mine. To eliminate the glare, confine the light cone and save
some energy too, might we see the roadway illuminated with fixtures that
confine the light to the roadway only at a height of say 20 feet and an
interval consistent with good roadway design. |
| 283 |
The
Daily News reported a "no build" option would be discussed but
I could find nothing about this on-line. What kind of a no-build option
are you offering? A review of the comments on your web page indicates
that while almost everyone believes we need a solution to the traffic
problem, most looking at all options feel that the current "grid
completion" efforts are inadequate, and inappropriate and will no
more reduce traffic problems then the previous expansions of the grid.
We need a highway down Muldoon and Tudor to connect the Glenn with existing
major north-south highways much as the Minnesota extensions have done.
WE need to look at such options as opposed to merely bickering about pieces
of a grid completion plan that is simply going to impact additional neighborhoods
and chop up our parklands. As long as people are willing to sacrifice
other's homes, how about we build a highway down (or over Muldoon and
Tudor) to the Seward to allow traffic to get from Muldoon to O'Malley
in 9 minutes, and then build lots of arterials across the hillside so
that destinations in the Abbott Loop area can be accessed from the south
in less actual time than accessing from the north via grid completion?
In any event, when will you be including PeopleMover connection options
so that people concerned about the project who cannot afford a $500 tank
payment can attend via bus. Whoops, there is no public transit service
to Service High is there? |
| 284 |
I
commute almost daily between Hillside and the Hospital / University area
of town. I pass through the Lake Otis / Tudor intersection. I don't find
the traffic congestion there entirely unreasonable. I am opposed to the
Bragaw extension. I don't think it will shorten the time it takes me to
commute. It will just shift the congestion and delays to Abbott Loop Road
and Abbott Road which are already overly congested during peak traffic
flow hours. I don't think it will shorten the time it takes me to get
through the Tudor / Lake Otis intersection. Any gains will be offset by
increased traffic as a new equilibrium is reached. The cost will be loss
of valuable irreplaceable parklands which will continue to be whittled
away at until they're a shadow of what they are today. Quiet residential
neighborhoods will be gradually transformed into high traffic urban areas
in a ripple effect. Abbott Loop and Abbott Roads will have to be further
expanded to handle the increased traffic feeding into them and then the
roads they feed into will have to be expanded. Building more roads is
not always the best way to deal with traffic congestion. Irreplaceable
parklands and the character of residential neighborhoods shouldn't be
sacrificed to major arterial roads. |
| 285 |
HI
attended the January meeting at Service High School. My comments are based
upon the presentation and information offered at that meeting along with
my experiences living and working in the area over the last decade. I
strongly prefer the no-action alternative. Although I live near Service
High School and work in the University Medical District I find much more
value in preserving the habitat and open space than in shaving a few minutes
each morning off my commute. I've lived in other Northwest cities where
the wait at Lake Otis and Tudor seems quite reasonable compared with gridlock
in Seattle or Portland. It seems much wiser to me to spend the available
dollars on providing overpasses at Lake Otis and Tudor rather than bridges
between Dowling and Bragaw. The corner of Lake Otis and Tudor could relatively
easily be re-designed to speed traffic along Tudor and Lake Otis without
stop lights. Overpasses and bike lanes could be designed to enhance the
flow of traffic Rather than cutting into the wild areas of the Campbell
Tract. Has this option been considered in terms of the cost benefits compared
with extending Bragaw? Please consider this option before investing too
much additional energy in the Bragaw extension. Many of the businesses
(with the exception of the church) at the corner of Lake Otis and Tudor
are either going out of business out of business car lots or barely making
it as a business. Relocating these businesses building overpasses (or
underpasses) is one way of managing the congestion at this intersection.
I realize that Alaskan road engineers seem to dislike building overpasses
or underpasses without expansive clearances on each side but many cities
across the lower 48 have thoroughfares that are adequate to handle similar
traffic loads as Tudor and Lake Otis without being 10 or 12 lane clearances.
Preserving the wild character of open space is critical to the long term
development of Anchorage as a Pacific Rim city. Another west coast city
Portland once had the option of building roads through a municipal park.
They chose to work around the park and now Portland is the envy of many
cities with a large city park (Forest Park) that is one of the cherished
features of that vibrant expanding west coast metropolis. Portlanders
made the choice of investing in light rail to bring suburban bedroom communities
into contact with the businesses along the Willamette River rather than
bulldozing more thoroughfares to split neighborhoods and destroy habitat.
Anchorage needs to recognize that there are other ways of getting people
around the Lake Otis and Tudor bottleneck without destroying a natural
area that makes this city such a liveable locale. I've seen other cities
work around large wild parks to keep nature in contact with how people
live. We need to have the same approach in Anchorage for the long term
health of this community. If it is absolutely necessary for the Bragaw
extension to invade the Campbell Tract I offer the following suggestions
and input. The major connections for this project should not be Bragaw
and Abbott Loop Road. The connections that make the most sense are from
Bragaw to Dowling. Abbott Loop Road serves Hillside residents and the
Simonian Little League - the existing transportation layout already meets
their needs adequately. Dowling has been expanded as a four lane thoroughfare
- excess traffic from Tudor can be funneled that way bypassing a congested
portion of Lake Otis Parkway. I would also suggest designing the Bragaw
extension as a 35 mph roadway rather than the 45 or 50 mph designs common
in thoroughfares in this city. This is a wildlife area where collisions
with wildlife are all too possible. Reduced speeds - particularly during
the months where daylight is lessened would help reduce the number of
accidents. Many cities limit speeds on their arterials to 35 mph and they
do not have the moose collision or snow and ice issues common here in
Anchorage. If the extension is necessary be sure to build into the design
mass transit pullout options so that buses can easily use the route in
the future as people become less reliant on personal automobiles. Leave
Abbott Loop Road as a two lane road. The neighborhood is long established
by Alaska standards - there is little undeveloped land in private hands
remaining for future subdivision development. Single family dwellings
dominate the area. There is no need to expand Abbott Loop beyond two lanes
unless this project is part of a larger plan to bisect the lower Hillside
with another version of Lake Otis. One Lake Otis is all we need there.
Kids do not need major thoroughfares to cross ….. Use Abbott Loop
Road savings to create the most wildlife and aquatic life friendly bridges
as are possible when destroying the habitat along Campbell Creek with
the bridges required for the crossings of Campbell Creek. I am supportive
of providing a high quality bicycle/ski trail connecting the University
Medical District with the Hillside. There should also be adequate crossings
for dog sleds bicycles skiers moose and bears to move in an east/west
direction along Campbell Creek. I often ride my bicycle between my home
and work in the district using the Hilltop Parking Lot Gasline South Bivouc
Campbell Airstrip road route. Occasionally I cut through the Campbell
Tract from Service to the BLM Campbell Tract Facility and out to Abbott
Loop 68th and then down Lake Otis. If you have to build the project please
make the route friendly to non-polluting alternative modes of transportation.
We have a rare opportunity here to thoughtfully build in a bike lane option
for commuters. Cycling and ski trails would also be used by many of the
staff and students who live work and play in the University Medical District.
The University Medical district has many active highly educated people
working and studying in the area - it is a natural to establish a north
south corridor designed to encourage people to commute by bike or skis.
Despite the expense the bridges on this project should be as long as possible
to preserve wildlife migration corridors. Bears and moose do like bike
and ski trails but inevitably when narrow corridors are established human/wildlife
conflicts are much more likely than in situations where there is a wide
swath of habitat for critters to hide in while cyclists and skiers and
dog sledders whiz by. The integrity of the wild areas along Campbell Creek
will in future decades become increasingly important as Anchorage continues
to develop. People in cities that have preserved large open spaces have
come to cherish these areas as wild parks despite the transportation hassles
associated when traffic corridors are more narrow. Portland Oregon's Forest
Park is one example. Thank you for letting me comment. |
| 286 |
Commented
previously. Last night, Stewart Osgood said that the latest LRTP revision
"took the question marks off the LRTP map" for the Bragaw extension.
How did he get that impression? I remember the amendment explaining that
the state is proceeding with the design and construction of Bragaw, nothing
else. I remember no discussion of "taking the question marks off
the map." Could you please clarify the municipality's position? |
|
|
|
