Sterling Safety Corridor project leads hear from Sterling residents at 1st town hall

Leads for the Sterling Safety Corridor Improvements project answered questions and collected feedback from Sterling residents in their first town hall event on Tuesday. A second meeting will be held tonight at the Soldotna Public Library from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The Sterling Safety Corridor Improvements project is intended to decommission the Sterling Safety Corridor — first designated in 2009 owing to an above-average fatality and injury rate. It was once expected to enter construction in 2022, with the project then describing construction of a four-lane highway with a depressed median. Public response and concerns about access along the corridor, which stretches from near Whistle Hill in Soldotna past Swanson River Road in Sterling, led to the project falling dormant.

Earlier this month, Public Involvement Lead Stephanie Queen and Design Project Manager Steve Noble gave updates to the Soldotna City Council and Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly saying that the project has been restarted and is eyeing construction in 2025, but pointed to public meetings as a key opportunity to gather feedback from the communities who drive, live or work along the road as possibilities for the design are evaluated.

The first meeting was held at the Sterling Community Center, where maps were strewn over tables and displays shared information about the project and the people working on it. Project staff from the State Department of Transportation, Dowl, QAP and Stephanie Queen Consulting milled about the room talking to attendees about the projects.

On each map, people left their written notes and thoughts. These included a request for a separate walking path along the corridor or a stated desire to maintain the 55 miles per hour speed limit.

Also included in the event material were two suggested possibilities for the project. The first described a four-lane highway with a center turning lane, while the second described the original depressed median. Noble said to the assembly last week that these alternatives are still being explored, that the project could still go in any direction to meet needs.

The Tuesday meeting, and a second meeting in Soldotna on Wednesday are only the first steps as the project is reintroduced and developed.

Design Manager Julia Hanson said the people working on the project are looking to use these opportunities to meet with people, hear their concerns and answer their questions. The latter, especially, was what many people brought to the meeting. Hanson said many people were coming in simply wanting to know what would be built and when.

The most frequently voiced concern, Hanson said, is still about access. People are asking how they’ll get to their property when the road is changed — regardless of what form that change takes.

“We’re trying to find a balance between improving safety and insuring access,” Hanson said. “If we build a center median, it’s much safer than putting in a center turn lane, but it means people can’t make left turns.”

Hanson said in collecting feedback and talking to the people in the area, project leads can look at the project through more diverse and specific perspectives. They’re looking at individual use cases or smaller areas of the corridor and working to understand how the project might affect them.

A second meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 26, at the Soldotna Public Library from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Further town halls are expected to be held in the fall and sometime next year before the start of construction.

More information about the project can be found at SterlingSafetyImprovements.com.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.