Why Is Lake Otis Blocked Off Just South Of Tudor? [UPDATED]

[UPDATES is at the bottom]

Lake Otis Parkway was closed Saturday (May 30)  at 42nd Avenue, just south of where it crosses Tudor, one of the busiest intersections in Anchorage.  It's scheduled to stay that way for about ten days.  

I've watched the changes on 42nd Avenue over the last year or so because it's on one of my regular bike routes.  

Basically, there was a row of good sized cottonwood trees along this short dead-end part of 42nd.  They were to the south of the big medical building (Lake Otis Medical Plaza at 4100 Lake Otis), which they hid quite well.  Last fall, when they cut all the trees down, I looked through my old photos to see if I had a picture of it with the trees.  I couldn't find one.  Fortunately, Google Street View is a little out of date.  The picture to the left below shows the trees.  The picture to the right was taken in May this year.  It's the same view, but with a slightly different angle.  [For anyone wondering, my airdrop magically started working again.  I have no idea why.  Maybe a software update?  In any case, as long as it's working I can easily upload photos from my phone to my laptop.]

A                                                                                 B

This picture (C) was taken last September right after they cut all the trees down.  It's looking east, while the views above (A and B) are looking west from Lake Otis.  So the brick building on the left below is on the right above and the other building is switched over as well.  

C

I took these two pictures from the back (west) driveway into the parking lot of the medical building, the one above (C) looking east and the one below (D) looking west, beyond the driveway.  The area where the white truck in the background is, used to be a big wetlands area.  They 'mitigated' the wetlands quite a few years ago, when people in the surrounding neighborhoods had flooding issues.  

D

Below is 42nd and Lake Otis, which was totally blocked off Saturday.  (This is one of those times having a bike lets you avoid these car blockades.)

E

This is a Municipal project to improve streets (pavement is really bad on 42nd east of Lake Otis) as well as pedestrian use and replacing an old water main, which, I guess, is what we're seeing on the west side of Lake Otis.  As much as I hated seeing the cutting of the trees, I know that cottonwoods have active roots.  So, is the work west of Lake Otis going to eventually include a pipe?  Here's a link to the Municipal project website.

I've emailed the folks listed at the site with some questions and I'll add their responses when they come in.  

 

[UPDATE June 2, 2025  7pm]

I got a quick response from Justin Keene, PE, Principal/Civil Engineer, CRW Engineering Group, Inc.

The most interesting part was the ditch with the open waters "is the headwaters of Fish Creek."

Below are my questions (in black) and Justin's responses (in green)

1.  Water main - what all does that mean?  An existing cast iron water main is being replaced from Lake Otis Parkway to Piper Street along E. 42^nd Avenue. I'm assuming this is wastewater, given that on the west side, it is open water.  Is that correct? No, they are two separate things. The ditch on the west side of Lake Otis Parkway is the headwaters of Fish Creek. A storm drain pipe outfalls into the ditch and our project replaced the three downstream culverts and regarded the ditch to facilitate a new storm drain outfall. The water main is as described above. Have there been problems or is this routine replacement? The water main has had leaks in the past and needs replacement.  How long has the water main been in? The water main was installed in 1967.  On the west side, will the waterway remain open or ??? The ditch will remain open.

 

2.  Will the short street on the west side get new pavement?   Sidewalks? No new pavement or sidewalks are proposed on E. 42nd Avenue west of Lake Otis Parkway.

 

3.  Will the addition of sidewalks on the east side mean encroaching on people's property?  (I assume you have easements.) No, we are installing the sidewalks in the MOA right-of-way.

Do you have any drawings of what the improvements will look like? The final drawings can be downloaded from MOA Purchasing website at this link: Download

The link takes you to a 142 page document with detail drawings of everything they could think of that they will have to do on this project.  While I don't understand all the details, these drawings do show you the amount of planning that goes into a job like this.  

I've copied one page to give you a sense.  I've saved it in high resolution, but you may have to go to the link to actually be able to read it.  This is just one drawing for one block.  There are additional drawings for each block focusing on the water mains and other features.  These are pretty amazing.  They've got plans for relocating mailboxes, fire hydrants, street lighting.  If I'm interpreting correctly, they have calculated space to allow snow to be plowed without burying the sidewalk.  But maybe wishful thinking was interpreting that drawing.  And I'm sure there will be unanticipated objects and obstacles.