Anchorage Daily News reports:
https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2022/08/01/state-of-alaska-proposes-major-overhaul-of-seward-highway-intersection-near-girdwood/
The state is looking at building an interchange on the Seward Highway outside Girdwood, with looping extensions over the wetlands on either side, for at least $35 million.
Alaska road engineers say the plan, still in its early design phase, will dramatically improve safety at the T-junction where the Seward and Alyeska highways meet.
A fatality hasn’t been recorded there since at least 1980, and the number of crashes isn’t high compared to other similar intersections in Alaska, engineers say. But they say traffic is growing, and the left-hand turns through oncoming traffic are risky and can result in serious accidents.
I remember that intersection from my trip up there a couple of weeks ago. I stopped at the "mall" for a bio break, and drove up to Alyeska looking for a good place to take a picture of the local mountainscape.
It seemed like a busy intersection; it was a little challenging turning from the Alyeska Highway onto the Seward Highway northbound, and there was a line of traffic waiting to turn southbound.
This interchange feels like a bit much for what I saw....but I admit that I saw the intersection only at two points in time, probably not at peak times. I'd be tempted to say that a traffic light and some protected turn lanes would be sufficient, except for the obvious risks involved with adding a traffic light to a long highway that currently doesn't have any traffic lights.
