A long-contentious plan to build a road through Anchorage's University-Medical District got the endorsement of the city's planning commission late Monday night, but the project is also getting a close look from the administration of Mayor Ethan Berkowitz.
The U-Med District "Northern Access Project" would link Elmore Road and Bragaw Street and aims to ease access and rising traffic congestion in the area. Universities and major medical centers in the area strongly support the project, but it's being fought by East Anchorage neighbors and other critics who say the road will threaten green space, ski and walking trails and wetlands.
In a 7-0 vote, with two commissioners absent, the Planning and Zoning Commission endorsed the preferred route for the road unveiled by the Alaska Department of Transportation in February 2014. The route had a preliminary price tag of $19.4 million and was the most direct north-south connection between Bragaw Street and Elmore Road. It includes a two-lane road, a southern roundabout, bike lanes and sidewalks, and a 30 mph speed limit.
The commission's approval came with five recommendations to the state DOT and the city. One supported the idea of a separate trail and sidewalk on either side of the street; another called for more pedestrian protections in a future four-way intersection at Northern Lights Boulevard and Bragaw Street.
Plans for three pedestrian bridges have since been winnowed down to two, at the north and south ends of the road, and commissioners voted against a recommendation to restore the third pedestrian bridge. The commission also went against a recommendation by Commissioner Jon Spring to require project consultants to work with the Nordic Ski Association to "investigate the integrity of the (Alaska Pacific University) trail system."
"I recognize that we sort of left the trails hanging a little bit, but I'm certain they will be talking to certain (Anchorage) Assembly members to see if they can't get that added back in," said Jim Fergusson, commission chair, who noted the importance of an evacuation route for the area in casting his vote.
The commission also recommended that a required $1 million environmental mitigation fee be directed toward the maintenance of the Chester Creek watershed.
DOT spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy said the project team plans to address the commission's recommendations. She said that if the project keeps moving forward as planned, the two-year construction could start in summer 2016.
Neighbors, meanwhile, have waged years-long battles against the road, and some came to Monday night's meeting to rally and give testimony. Carolyn Ramsey of the group Citizens for Responsible Development said the commission appeared to be willing to listen to institutions, not citizens.
"I think we walked away feeling pretty unheard," Ramsey said Tuesday. She said opponents will be regrouping and figuring out how to proceed.
In a memo submitted last week, the city planning division recommended a full redesign of the project, and said the current design was driven too much by cost constraints.
The memo referenced a 2011 study that laid out design suggestions to help the road fit into the surrounding area. Those suggestions, which were shown at public forums, have "been deleted or whittled down to a minimum, leaving a relatively straight thoroughfare with inadequate pedestrian facilities," planners wrote in the memo. The memo recommended tabling construction until enough money was in place to make sure the road is "designed appropriately" for the surrounding area.
In closing comments Monday night, commissioners said the approved plan and recommendations were in the best interest of the public, particularly in terms of eased access to hospitals. Fergusson said the final package represented a compromise.
But the project is not a done deal, according to officials in Berkowitz's administration. Chris Schutte, the director of the Office of Economic and Community Development, said the mayor is meeting with representatives on both sides of the issue to figure out if a stronger consensus can be reached.
The idea of a connection between Northern Lights Boulevard to the north and Tudor Road to the south was first broached in the late 1980s, but the project didn't gain steam until former Mayor Dan Sullivan included a request for funding of the road in the city's annual priority capital budget requests. The state Legislature allocated $20 million in funding during the 2013 session, and the city transferred the money to the state DOT to handle the development.
Berkowitz heard a lot about the project during the mayoral election, Schutte said, and is concerned about pedestrian and recreational access in the area.
But Schutte said the administration has also seen models that show pressure on surrounding road systems because of the lack of a northern route from Elmore to Bragaw, and heard the arguments about congestion relief and faster ambulance response times.
"Have we reached that point where those reasons are significant enough to proceed, or is it something where it's not the time yet?" Schutte said. "That's part of the calculus the mayor is taking on."
Schutte said the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendations play into the city's broader discussion on whether the road project should move forward, "but it's not the sole factor."
McCarthy said Tuesday the DOT has not had any official communications with Berkowitz, but she said the state is aware the administration is evaluating the project.
"As well they should; it's a new administration," McCarthy said, adding that the project will move forward as planned in the meantime.
At its meeting next Monday, the Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to hold a hearing on an update to the U-Med District Plan, which includes references to planning for the proposed northern access road.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the date that the preferred route was unveiled by DOT. It was February 2014, not February 2015. The story also misstated the number of roundabouts included in the preferred route. The current plans call for one roundabout, not three, located at the southern end.