Journal

Updated Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP)

2009-11-03T15:23:49Z

The always awaited LRTP is out for review. For our area, they are listing Mountainaire Drive connection to Shangri La (pg 30) , Goldenview to Potter Valley through Legacy Pointe (pg 30), and Rabbit Creek from the Seward Highway to Goldenview (32), and extension of Elmore from DeArmoun to Rabbit Creek (pg 32) upgrades.

Bluebell Design Study Out for Public Review

2009-10-19T22:52:25Z

I just received a copy of the Design Study for the intersection of Goldenview and Bluebell. They offer 5 alternatives and recommended one that offers minimal improvements to the grade of Bluebell.

The SGVRRSA Board has not reviewed these or formed an opinion on it yet. There is a grant from the State of Alaska for $660K. This will not cover any of the alternatives. Once we decide what the best alternative is for the road, we will look for additional funding sources to ensure we are doing the right project. I don't believe in a backwards approach to fixing the problem with the pot of money we have if it isn't the right solution.

The Muni now owns Goldenview and can help participate in funding the final solution. We also have an additional grant request from the State to upgrade Goldenview. If that funding comes through this next session, we can consider combining the two projects. It is still very early in the process to get overly excited about any of these alternatives, but this is where we are at today.

Sandpiper Project Hit a Snag

2009-09-30T19:02:03Z

Yesterday, Sept 29th, the contractor found substantial bedrock in the project area. They stopped work and called an emergency meeting with Boutet Company and our Board Chair. We don't know what it means yet, but we are continuing on and trying to manage the project as best we can. They brought in a new excavator to beat out the bed rock and are adjusting man-holes and depth of the storm drain system. We should know more about what all this means tomorrow as far as costs and delays.

Sandpiper Bid Awarded to Northstar Construction

2009-09-02T19:59:56Z

The SGVRRSA Board voted unanimously to accept the entire bid for the Sandpiper project. The base bid was the storm drain system, the Addititive Alternative 1 was for rock to shore up the bank and allow water to flow through winter and the Additive Alternative 2 was for new road materials. We received 13 bids ranging from $377K - $731K. The majority of the bids were centered around the Engineers Estimate of $526K. The work should start soon and be completed within the month.

Mountain Aire Extension Update

2009-08-28T19:28:23Z

USKH repors to be on schedule to submit the draft Design Study Report in early October. They will be visiting the Bear Valley and Rabbit Creek community councils in August or September as well as holding a public meeting in October. Attached are the meeting notes from the August 5th meeting and map of alternatives.

Sandpiper Bid Opening Delayed

2009-08-21T19:23:16Z

An amendment was issued for the bid on Sandpiper. It was too close to today's scheduled bid opening. They have delayed the bid opening for one week to give all the contractors an opportunity to adjust their bid documents.

This is not good news for us. I hope we still have time to complete the project before the snow flies.

Sandpiper Bid Opening Tomorrow 8/21/09

2009-08-20T18:39:25Z

Tomorrow at 2:00pm the bids will be opened for the SGVRRSA Sandpiper project. Another RSA had a bid opening a couple of days ago for a paving project and the bids came in well below the engineers estimate. We hope we have the same fortune. I will keep you posted.

Latest Hillside District Plan Draft

2009-08-20T18:33:22Z

The latest draft of the Hillside District Plan has been published and is available for review. The next hearing will be on August 31st Planning and Zoning meeting. The changes are noted up front and then are included inside the document.

LRSA, RRSA, ARDSA, CBERRSA, wat-sa-DSA?

2009-08-06T05:30:02Z

We constantly debate what the best model is for managing the Hillside roads. We have 60% of the roads under some form of formal road maintenance and 40% outside of it. Eagle River has a great model, in my opinion, but the Anchorage Hillside doesn't seem willing to go there yet.

If you are new to the issue of what we should do and who should be included, my friend John Weddleton has done a great job outlining the issues an considerations. Visit this link to see what he has to say. It is good to be informed as you may be asked to vote someday .

Sandpiper

2009-08-06T05:16:25Z

The bid is due to go out this week. The biggest question is "can we afford it"? We are very late in the season and didn't get any State money to help with the project. We are extremely limited in funding with just our annual mil rate to help pay for it.

We really have to do something. The road isn't safe in the winter and is only marginal in the summer. The years of construction has taken a terrible toll on the road. We also have to consider that this road has to support the development of the Mountain Aire connection. It will have to withstand a lot of trucks hauling a lot of materials to build the new road. We can't afford to do nothing.

Keep your fingers crossed that it comes in WAY under the engineers estimates so we can do the whole project.