Felton Street Extension to Palmer-Wasilla Highway

Scope

This project will extend and upgrade Felton Street from Palmer-Wasilla Highway to Bogard Road. Improvements will include travel and turn lanes, shoulders, pedestrian/bicycle amenities, drainage, safety, and the addition of a traffic signal at the intersection of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. 

 Project development will include reconnaissance, design, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation, and construction.

Project Benefits

This project will provide a new north-south collector level road between the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and the recently completed Bogard Road Extension East project. This connection should reduce traffic on portions of both the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and Bogard Road.

Currently there is only one north-south connection that is constructed to collector road standards in the four-mile stretch between the Glenn Highway and Trunk Road and that would be 49^th State Street.

The lack of other connectivity means drivers have to travel significant distances on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway to find a connection that allows travel to the north. The same can be said for traffic travelling on Bogard Road that wants to travel south. This situation leads to congestion on our main arterial road systems.

Project Status

The Alaska Department of Transportation constructed a new intersection at the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and purchased right-of-way for the most southerly portion of this project. The Borough designed and constructed a short section of the most northerly portion of this project (access to Palmer High School Pool) as part of the Bogard Road Extension East project. Since that time, the Borough established right-of-way for the project along the east boundary of the Palmer High School property and developed a conceptual design. Final design was completed during the 2020-21 winter, construction began in May 2021, and the installation of the traffic light will conclude the project by end of July 2023.

Project Cost

The estimated budget for this project is approximately $2,500,000.