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Investigation: Highway to Highway Stalled? Part IAs the Municipality of Anchorage gears up for $70 million worth of road projects, there are questions about what some are calling a vital piece of the roadway puzzle.As the Municipality of Anchorage gears up for $70 million worth of road projects, there are questions about what some are calling a vital piece of the roadway puzzle. The Highway to Highway, or H2H, project is a joint venture between the State of Alaska, the Municipality of Anchorage and the Federal Highway Administration that would connect the Glenn Highway to the Seward Highway. A few years ago, H2H was touted as the answer to Anchorage's traffic problems. Both state and local officials promised the project would reduce traffic congestion in Anchorage and make the highways safer. But these days, it is unclear where the project stands. Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan said a number of Anchorage roads would go into “failure” status if the $581 million H2H project were not constructed. “Highway to Highway is a key element in making sure those roadways don’t go into failure status,” explained Mayor Sullivan. “We are still totally supportive of it. It looks like at the state level, that there has been a slowdown of that project, and we're still not sure why.” On June 29, 2009, Department of Transportation officials cut the ribbon of the Highway to Highway project's office on 15th Avenue, calling it a major step toward better roads in Anchorage. “We think that if we have them all co-located here we're going to get some efficiencies and some synergy in the work effort,” said Gordon Keith of the Department of Transportation at the time. That was less than two years ago. Now, the Eye Team can’t even get Highway to Highway officials to return phone calls—so the Eye Team stopped by. The door was locked, but a man eventually came to the door and said he forwarded our interview request to the DOT regional office. But nobody at the DOT regional office could help us either. According to a spokesperson with the Department of Transportation, the separate H2H office was supposed to boost efficiency and allow the staff to focus on their project. But it appears they are so focused no one outside their office knows what's going on. There is nothing in the state's 2012 budget for the $581-million project. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, there have been no permit applications either, which would have to be submitted and approved before any ground could be broken. That is bad news for a city counting on the project. “The roads would be going into failure status won’t be able to move traffic in a timely manner,” said Sullivan. “Traffic jams will become more common.” So, with no answers on progress, what is the alternative if Highway to Highway is stalled permanently? City officials are looking at that right now. “We can’t do it as a city- it is just way too expensive. These are typically federal highway dollars passed through the State of Alaska,” said Sullivan. “I don’t know what the alternative is, so we are going to push hard to get the project done.” The official word from the Department of Transportation is the Highway to Highway project is "undergoing transition." Chair of the State House Transportation Committee Rep. Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangle, told KTVA CBS 11 she has been trying to get an update on the project too, but has not heard anything yet. |
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AKCHAOS said on Tuesday, May 10 at 11:59 AM
YEAH!!!!!More quality government at it's best.
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