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Planning Month: DOT’s Egan Drive Improvements Project

October 31, 2019 – News

Driving on Egan Drive this summer meant safety barrels and traffic revisions that helped guide motorists and pedestrians around construction sites. Some of the completed sections give exciting glimpses of what to expect for the entire stretch from the bridge at Tenth Street to Main Street Downtown.

The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities’ Egan Drive Improvements Project has been many years in the planning. During the early design stages, DOT&PF used local CBJ plans in its Project Scope, which is a short description of the project objectives and is the DNA of the project design. DOT&PF worked with CBJ staff, the Planning Commission, and the Assembly to understand what the local plans show as needs in the project area.

DOT reviewed CBJ’s 2001 Area-wide Transportation Plan, the 2004 Long Range waterfront Plan, the 2009 Non-Motorized Transportation Plan, and the 2012 Willoughby Plan for the Aak’w Kwaan Village District. Yes, plans from 2001 still provide relevant guidance on community needs; the effort and public input that went into writing a plan shouldn’t be put aside because of its age. Unless the context that a plan was written within has changed, it’s still relevant.

When completed, among other improvements, the project will provide several community needs laid out in the plans, like dedicated bicycle lanes along the entire stretch leaving the wide sidewalks free for pedestrians, and two new pedestrian crossings to make it safer to walk to the Aak’w Kwaan Village District. To find out more about the Egan Drive project visit egandriveproject.com.