Strategy for Safety

Great Northwest, Inc. project first of four to improve safety along Richardson Highway

By Rachael Kvapil

ometimes, small changes can significantly increase highway safety. In October 2020, Great Northwest, Inc. completed a project that addressed a four-mile hotspot along the Richardson Highway. A corridor study first identified Milepost 353-357 as fast-growing and problematic in 1983.

Since 1993, the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, or DOT&PF, has worked to address access control along the Richardson Highway between Smithson Street and the Old Richardson Highway. After many years of project development, public involvement, and right-of-way acquisitions, this stretch of road has been modified to reduce potential vehicle conflict.

“The Richardson Highway in this area is part of the Interstate Highway System and was recognized as serving a fast-growing area due to the military installations along the way,” says Lauren Little, design manager for DOT&PF. “This stretch has historically seen severe crashes due to direct and frequent access combined with high speed

The four-lane highway that connects Fairbanks to North Pole was originally built in 1966. Over the past half-decade, amid residential, commercial, and industrial growth, partial frontage roads and additional access points have been added along the highway, many of which do not adhere to modern design standards. Today, an average of more than 20,000 vehicles drive through the corridor every day, and that number is expected to increase over the next fifteen years. To prepare for increased traffic, designers consolidated multiple access points along the corridor into new at-grade intersections that include acceleration and deceleration lanes for vehicles entering and exiting the Richardson Highway. These new intersections are designed to accommodate large trucks and have highway lighting to improve visibility and reduce the likelihood of crashes.

“Ultimately, the project reduced the number of direct access points onto the Richardson Highway, reducing the number of potential vehicle-to-vehicle conflicts and subsequent crash risk,” says Little. “We consolidated access to reconstructed intersections designed to handle the increased traffic, including long left-turn lanes on the Richardson Highway to get turning traffic clear of through traffic and large intersections at the adjacent streets to accommodate the industrial traffic common to this area.”

Improvements include new pavement, road widening, and drainage upgrades to frontage roads to serve the access needs of local traffic better and accommodate emergency vehicles and snowplows. Frontage roads north of the Richardson Highway were extended between Bright Electric (near the westbound Badger Road interchange ramp) and Exclusive Paving. Frontage roads south of the Richardson Highway were extended between LuAnne Road and Black Gold Express/Hamilton Construction.

The cost of the project was $17.7 million. Federal funds paid for 93 percent of the project, while state funds covered the remaining 7 percent. Construction started in June 2019 and wrapped up in October 2020.

Though construction lasted two years, both designers and crews overcame several challenges. Before construction, DOT&PF dealt with changing access and acquisition of private property to find the right balance of intersection spacing and access for adjacent property owners while maintaining the integrity of the Interstate Highway System. Another point of contention during design included right-of-way needs on the new frontage for connections and large intersections to accommodate large trucks.

By fall 2019, Great Northwest completed the base of the southbound frontage road. The following spring, workers with the company paved the southbound frontage road and began work on the northbound frontage road. Upon completion, the workers repaved the southbound mainline. The final phase of the project was to repave the northbound mainline.

DOT&PF has programmed approximately $180 million for Richardson Highway improvements over the next five years, with three projects actively in construction this year. Staff are also working on a Planning and Environmental Linkages study from Paxson through the Rainbow Ridge area to identify additional improvements for future project starts.

Three safety-related projects are planned in the Fairbanks area between 2022 and 2024. DOT&PF has identified an intersection at Milepost 351 near 12 Mile Village as having a crash rate more than two times higher than the statewide average. The plan is to replace the existing intersection with an interchange to reduce turning-related crashes. The project is still in design, with construction anticipated in 2024.

Closer to Fairbanks, at Milepost 359, is a project to improve safety at an existing railroad crossing. When active, the railroad crossing causes delays along the highway. Some vehicles must stop even when the train is not present. These vehicles currently cross using bypass lanes but must merge in less than a half mile back into ongoing traffic after stopping. Between 2008 and 2012, twenty-four crashes have occurred in this area. Many vehicles along this route carry freight or hazardous materials. This project is also in the design phase with construction possible in 2022 if funding becomes available. The project will also include a new bicycle facility between Airport Way and Badger Road along the Richardson Highway.

At the Ft. Wainwright main gate entrance, an innovative intersection design will be built to reduce delay and significantly improve safety at the Airport Way/Richardson Highway/Steese Expressway/Gaffney Road intersection. This project is slated for construction in 2022.