Bicyclists Getting A Little More Respect This Year From DOT

Last Saturday when I biked over to the Japanese Summer Festival, I noticed that for once, the Department of Transportation was thinking about cyclists and even gave us some benefits cars didn't get.  I knew there was construction on the Campbell Creek trail under the Seward Highway and at Dowling and I decided to take surface streets to avoid that.  But going south on C Street from Tudor, I saw there was a detour at Potter.

BUT, while cars were forced to go right or left because C Street was closed, the bike path on the west side of C Street was open, allowing me to keep to my route.  And it was marked too.  This is something that didn't use to happen.  But clearly someone had to have thought about this and said, "Well, we can leave the bike trail open."  Hey, humor me, I measure progress in very small increments.

On the way home, without having to worry about time, I picked up the Campbell Creek trail at its terminus near Dimond High School. 


The cow parsnip was in full bloom along the path.  This picture of the creek along the trail should give you a sense why I was willing to add a mile to my (now seven mile) trip back to be on the trail instead of the city streets. 

Under Minnesota the creek had flooded and the trail was covered in mud and water.  Fortunately there were some drier spots (on the left.)







But then it was beautiful again.

At Taku Lake  (I posted a video of the beaver I saw there already), there was also this duck dock right near the trail. So much nicer that navigating the sidewalks and intersections. 








But soon I was nearing Dowling and getting curious how I was going to get past the construction.  I needn't have worried.  There was a big sign blocking the path, but pointing out a detour.  In the past, there just would have been a sign blocking the path with no help for the cyclist to navigate around the blockage.  But this detour led to the construction site (Dowling Road) where a flagger got me and a pedestrian past the heavy equipment and around to another flagger who directed me to more signs that led me easily back to the bike path.

At Old Seward Highway, after the Arctic Road Runner near the Peanut Farm, the signs aren't quite as helpful.  There they say the trail is blocked at Seward Highway and direct you to take Tudor or Dowling.  There, you really have to know how to find the bike trail yourself.  You have to wander through the neighborhoods to pick it up after the creek crosses under the New Seward Highway, where they are widening the road and raising the bridges over the creek and where, by the end of next summer they say, there will be a real bike trail under the highway.  Now, from Tudor, looking south, the construction looks like this.

When the trail goes under Dowling and New Seward when this construction is done, you'll be able to bike from Dimond and Northwood to University Lake between APU and the Native Hospital (about 7.5 miles) with only having to cross one street (Lake Otis).  It mostly follows Campbell Creek going under or over bridges at other roads.   And I found this cool 2009 video by MijelRiak that takes you on the trail from New Seward Highway to Dimond and Northwood.  (Where the video crosses the street is Dowliing, where the construction is now.)

Campbell Creek Bike Trail Under Seward Highway Tonight

There's a meeting tonight to talk about 'improvements' to the Seward Highway between Dowling and 36th.  According to Rep. Berta Gardner's November 11, 2010 email to constituents

I spoke yesterday with Jim Amundson of the Department of Transportation and confirmed that sound barrier fencing (36^th Avenue to Dowling) and a bike path at Campbell Creek under the Seward Highway both remain in the project.   DOT plans to begin "turning dirt" in Spring 2011!

Some history.  Lanie Fleischer, who was one of the key people to get the bike trails built in Anchorage over 30 years ago and whose name is on the bike trail sign at Goose Lake, told me that the engineer in charge of building the Seward Highway, way back then, told her they were going to build the highway low enough that they could never have the bike trail go under it.  Non-motorized vehicle riders in those days were considered anti-capitalist, pinkos.   So now, at far greater expense than necessary, we are finally getting that part of the trail completed.  If the trail stays in the project.  So get down there to let them know you want that bike trail finally done.

If you can't go, call them up and email and tell them you support the bike trail.   Contact information below.  It's not a done deal until they have it in the plans, in the works, and finished. 


Here's the info from the Department of Transportation website:

Body of Notice:

Wednesday, November 17, 2010
5:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Sourdough Mining Company
5200 Juneau St.
Anchorage, AK 99518

Seward Highway: Dowling Road to Tudor Road

The State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) invites you to a public open house regarding the Seward Highway: Dowling Road to Tudor Road project. DOT&PF has completed the environmental phase of this project and is proceeding with design.

Why should you attend this meeting?

The meeting will provide information on the project and solicit public comments for consideration during the design phase.

The meeting will be in an open-house format, so you can stop by at any time during the scheduled hours. Staff from the project and DOT&PF will be available to discuss, answer questions and take your comments regarding the project.

Contacts:
Project Manager, Derek Christianson
CH2M HILL [This is the company that bought VECO from Bill Allen.]
Phone: 762-1358
sewardhwy.comments@ch2m.com

Project Manager, Jim Amundsen
DOT&PF
Phone: 269-0595
jim.amundsen@alaska.gov

Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage already has a post on this.

UPDATES: Green Screen Mystery, Campbell Creek Under Seward Highway, and Sugar Shack Reopened

Chong Kim is the project engineer in charge of the Seward Highway reconstruction from Tudor to Dowling, which includes the Campbell Creek bike trail.  I'd gone for a bike ride today to keep some hold of my sanity and looked for the DOT office behind the donut shop at Lake Otis and Tudor.


He apologized for not answering my phone call.  I'd left a message asking when the bike path would be done.  He said he was still trying to pin down the contractor before calling me back, but since weather is such a big factor, it's hard to say.  He figures about 2 or 2.5 weeks until it's all done.  By September 30th.  [I'd posted anyway a few days ago with then and now pictures.]

[UPDATE Oct 11:  I've updated with pictures from Oct. 9.  Mr. Kim told me maybe next week.]

In our chat I had a minor revelation.  He looked at the pictures I took last week of the path and he pointed to some hardware connected to the ground and then pointed to some green, transparent fabric on the wall in his office.  They will attach some fencing to that hardware.  Suddenly I had a flash - those strange green screens we'd seen where the Campbell Creek trail goes under Martin Luther King Blvd.  The ones with the images of the skier, biker, and walker.  The screens that we'd shaken our heads over in wonder at who would have put such boring art up.  I made some disparaging comments in a post this summer about a similar (unfinished) screen (below) where the Campbell Creek trail goes under the new bridge at Dowling.  (You used to have to cross the street at this point.)

It turns out these are to keep trail users from being covered with snow by a snow plow clearing the road above them.  Another reminder to myself to not jump to conclusions, but if it's strange, to assume there is something I'm not getting. Am I going to wait next winter to video tape a snow plow at this spot?  Don't hold your breath. 

It all makes sense now.  As it turns out, he said the Feds (EPA and another agency) say they may not plow into the creek anyway from the Seward Highway, but Chong said debris falls from passing vehicles so it's still good to have there. 

A Hopeful Note

I also talked to the office engineer who said, when I wanted to know the date for the bike trail completion, "You and everybody else.  That's the only thing people call to ask about."

I just want to document that piece of feedback about public interest in the bike trails, because I doubt that they are keeping track of that sort of feedback for the DOT administrators or for the legislators in Juneau, some of whom think people who ride bikes are anti-capitalists. 

And finally, the Sugar Shack reopened today.  It's not giant news, but this is a small local business that got trashed by vandals last May.  The thoughtless vandals cost this business almost four months of business and inconvenienced all the people who pass by here and regularly stop for a beverage.

UPDATE: Campbell Creek Bike Trail Under Seward Highway Almost Done

I checked on the Campbell Creek bike trail under the Seward Highway project last night (Thursday, Oct. 10).  My last post on this was Sept. 10.   On Sept. 6 I posted pictures of the unpaved trail and what it looked like in the past when you had to carry your bike under the low bridges. 

It's now paved and almost done.  This morning I called the project engineer Chong Kim who said he's hoping it will be done next week.  In this first photo - from the west side - you can see the fence like structure.  It's designed to deflect snow coming from a snow plow on the road above and keeping it off the trail and off people walking or riding on the trail.  Kim said five more are supposed to go up and they are the last major parts that need to be done. 

This shot is from the east looking west.  There are four new bridges - the east access road, which you see here; the north bound Seward Highway;  south bound Seward Highway; and the west access road. 










The reason you can't really use this part of the path yet is this fence on the bridge on the west side. Once the other

Looking at this fence, turn 180˚ and you see the picture below.

This is looking at the path and bridge from the west. 

Above I'm looking east from under one of the bridges.

Looking up I saw what I thought were lights, but they were strange looking and I couldn't see them quite as clearly as I can now looking at the photo. 

I asked Kim about them.  They are LED lights which use much less energy than regular lights would.  But they're pretty expensive and he expressed concern about vandalism or theft.  I asked if I should post about this.  He said yes and to let cyclists know that if they see anyone tampering with the lights to call the police (and maybe take a picture as well.)  I guess he figured not too many LED thieves read this blog, but cyclists might. 
 


Taking the trail further east - toward Lake Otis - I took this shot of the leaf carpeted trail.

East and West Finally Connected - Very Low Key Opening Of Campbell Creek Bike Trail Under Seward Highway

The sun came out for this ceremony.  There were construction workers and some DOT employees.  A few cyclists and some dogs and walkers.  And Channel 2 and Channel 11 and the Anchorage Daily News had camera folks.  As well as an unnamed blogger.

And there were two Muni employees who'd been working to make this happen since 1991 they said.  This was the culmination of a lot of work - getting this train connected under the Seward Highway.  And now it's done.

It was hard getting good angle without blocking the sun which is already pretty low on the horizon at noon.  It says, "East & West Finally Connected."

The absence of anyone of note - mayor, assembly, representatives, even department heads - or any real ceremony was probably fitting.  The real workers behind making this happen over the long term were probably the two women who had the cake and the blue lemonade container.  Chong Kim, the DOT engineer who has overseen the actual construction, was at a meeting I was told.  There was no ceremony and no ribbon cutting even though this is probably the most ambitious individual bike trail construction project in Anchorage since the Coastal trail was built.  This connected bike paths that were separated by the Seward Highway and its two access roads.  It's true, one could scramble under the old bridges and many did.  The top photo has a picture of the old bridge.  And here are some before and after shots.  But this is a recognition that bike paths do matter. 


There are still some things to work on - crossing Lake Otis for example.  Crossing Dowling was finished this summer.  But this was the biggie - four bridges under a major highway and access roads.  One of the women there from Anchorage Public Works told me there was a $10 million estimate for a similar underpass at Lake Otis.  She smiled wryly when I suggested they use the $20 million allocated to bulldoze Elmore through the University land, a project only the engineers seriously want and all the people living near by strongly oppose.  Money that was put into the state budget in the very last minutes before the state budget was passed this year in Juneau. Over the opposition of all the state and local representatives of the area. 

 

It's hard to take a picture of something that isn't there.  Until yesterday, there was a fence blocking this bridge right here.  For me, the removal of the fence is the real opening of this trail.

Here's what it looked like earlier this week.

These are snow fences to protect the trail and trail users from snow being plowed from the road above.  Technically, they aren't supposed to plow snow from the highway into the creek anyway, but just in case, and to keep other debris falling from the highway off the people below.  

The construction is still going on.  I think they may still need to connect the bike trail on the road above to the bike trail, but it seems it would make sense to do it from the same side of the creek as the trail.  So, I'm not sure what they are doing here.  

And this last shot is from the bridge east of the highway where the fence was removed yesterday.  The cake table is just on this side of the bridge.

New Seward Repairs and Campbell Creek Bike Trail Start Today for Two Years

Between Tudor and International Airport Road

First Southbound - Starting May 2 - the frontage road will be closed.  They're getting it ready to take the Seward Highway traffic for when it gets closed down, later.

Then they'll do the same Northbound.  From DOT (with some reformatting): 

The Department of Transportation, in partnership with QAP, is working to improve the New Seward Highway, from Dowling Road to Tudor Road. Improvements will include

• added lanes, 
• resurfacing and 
• Campbell Creek bridge replacement.  

The Homer Drive and Brayton Drive frontage roads will also be improved with

• resurfacing and 
• the addition of multi-use trails. 

We will do our best to keep you informed as work continues, and appreciate your patience and cooperation during construction. This project is scheduled to be complete by June 2014.

In addition to the highway work - the bike trail along Campbell Creek under the Seward Highway is scheduled to be completed.  Here's a picture from 2007.  You have to walk your bike and duck low.   They also say they will have trails along the frontage roads when they are done.


There will be a public hearing Thursday night at Dimond High

A PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE will be held at the Dimond Center Hotel (700 E. Dimond Boulevard), on Thursday May 3, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. Project teams will be available to review the scope of work and provide detailed information about the project. 

Campbell Creek Flooding Demonstrates Why Title 21 Is So Important

The white line is approximately where the shoreline is normally.   This is one of the first houses as Campbell Creek moves into populated area, so there are no artificial constrictions above stream that would raise the water higher here. 

I'm on the bike trail, the white line is about normal shoreline.

As developers try to push back the set back distance from creeks proposed in the Title 21 provisionally approved, this recent flooding gives a good example of why other cities have much stricter setbacks than Anchorage.






You can see the white line again over by the posts and the sign at the normal shoreline where the creek is supposed to go under the bridge.

 

And below is Campbell Creek just after crossing under Lake Otis.  It's been constrained by the concrete barriers under the road right here and it has fairly steep banks, so it's kept relatively close within its banks.  But even so you can see the difference between Thursday and Friday. (Note:  We were already at flood levels on Thursday.) The little white lines on each photo show the water line for Friday and the same place on Thursday. The vertical white line in the upper right just shows the distance from the base of the tree to the water.

And most telling of all, the pipe in the lower right is completely covered on Friday. 

And as I continued on the bike trail, I could see that the creek strayed far beyond its normal banks.   At the point in the picture below, there are houses between the trail and the creek. 


I decided to go off the trail and find a relatively dry pathway through the woods on the right.  It had some elevation.  But then I got out of the woods and to the soccer fields at Waldron Park.

In the above picture I'm looking back to where I came out of the woods onto the soccer fields.  There was a long, narrow body of water bordering the fields.  As I went down toward the field from the woods, I knew the ground would be soggy but I was hoping I could jump to the grassy island.  Well, both shoes were soaked by the time I leapt to the little grass patch, which wobbled like a water bed under me.  I think it was floating. 

This is Waldron Lake, on the edge of the soccer fields.  This area was saved this year by a bill in the legislature which bought the property to preserve it as a park.  This year the governor didn't veto the appropriation like he did last year.  As I looked at the lake, it seemed that this big open body of water was better equipped to absorb some of the flooding.   Nah, don't you think they should drain the lake and put in condos?  We need to get tax dollars from this land.  Well, what we get is a natural flooding abatement and water filtration plant that would cost the city hundreds of millions to match if this lake and the creek and the green belt around the creek weren't here.

Then I wandered on down to the Seward Highway and the project begun this summer to raise the four bridges to allow a real bike trail under the highway instead of the dirt and rock obstacle course that's been the way to get past the highway all these years.

This picture shows my bike under the first bridge in August 2008, negotiating the rocks and the dirt.  You can see the second bridge in the background (and then there are two more) and the normal water level.

Here's pretty much that same spot earlier this summer after they closed it off for the construction.  

And here it was Friday morning. (You can click on the picture to get it bigger and clearer. The bottom of the fence is in the water which was about three and a half feet below the bottom of the bridge.  The trail was completely obliterated.  You can compare the water levels to the first of these three pictures. 

If I've understood correctly (it's hard to keep current with the many changes), the builders in town have gotten the Planning and Zoning Commission to shrink the setback from creeks and waterways for new development.  I understand that people want to build on as much land as possible.  But this week's flooding along the creeks shows why those setbacks are necessary.  Are floods like this normal?  Not really. But there has been speculation that the shrinking polar ice cap is having an effect on our weather patterns.  If that's true, this may be the new normal.

This storm and the flooding highlight the problems of having developers be the main lobbyists to roll back the changes on Title 21. (Not counting those who have been to meetings to explain that Title 21 is directly related to UN resolution 21 on global climate change and is an international conspiracy to take over the world.)  They want to make as much money as they can developing land and while I'm sure the vast majority of the developers do not want to have their projects flooded - even after they've collected their money and gone - I am sure that they simply discount the safety, health, and aesthetic goals set into the Title 21 process by citizens panels over the years.  The creek set back is one of the more visible problems with the changes they are proposing.  There are many, many more that will have long term negative effects on Anchorage as a livable city.

The Anchorage Citizens Coalition has a lot more detailed information of what's going on.  They'll need people to contact their Assembly members right away. 

Lingering Signs of Fall as Winter Approaches

Rain drops washing fallen mountain ash leaves the other day, 

but the sun's out again. 

Not all Canadian geese have left for warmer climes.

 And the water flows freely along Campbell Creek as it tumbles wildly under one of Anchorage's most busy roads - the New Seward Highway.   Cyclists have to negotiate the rocky banks to get past this spot still,  but a memo from Rep. Berta Gardner tells us that a real bike path is scheduled here by September 2013.

 The Seward Highway Upgrade Project, Dowling to Tudor, will also go to bid in October with groundbreaking in spring 2012 and scheduled completion in September 2013.  We continue to confirm that sound barriers along the freeway are included in the plan, as well as the long-awaited connection of the Campbell Creek Bike Trail under the Seward Highway.   This connection will give neighborhoods safe and easy access between east and west portions of the trail, opening up miles of trail to surrounding neighborhoods.

"We continue to confirm" sounds less than certain.  And I've ducked my head negotiating my bike over the rocky and sometimes wet path under the highway often enough that I might just miss it when it's paved and civilized here.  And will it be open the year they are building?  Who knows?

But we can be certain that winter is on the way.   It's the end of October and so far the snow's stayed in the mountains.  But the word is creeping into the weather forecasts for us lowlanders.

Bike Trail Slasher

Just last fall I wrote about the opening of the Campbell Creek bike trail under the Seward Highway.

Today, when I went to see Chong Kim, the Department of Transportation Project Engineer who was in charge of that project so I could ask questions about the three final options for 36th and Seward Highway, he was very upset because someone, over the winter, slashed the screens that are used to protect bikers and pedestrians from debris falling off the highway.  Other places these are also to keep snow plowed on the road above from hitting people on the trail.  Here, along Campbell Creek, they aren't allowed to plow snow into the creek, but I'm sure it happens once in a while.  Chong had worked hard to get screens that were both functional and decorative.   He's clearly upset about this.





Here are some pictures of what's happened.

It was a little hard taking pictures because the screens are see-through to a certain extent.  But on the near left side you can see a big rectangle cut out. 

This project goes under four different roads - two frontage roads and then the north and south parts of the highway.  So there are a bunch of screens and parts of most of them have been damaged.

Here's Chong Kim, the project manager on video.  I've talked to him about a number of projects over the last few years and he's always been very candid and passionate about the projects.  The kind of public administrator who gives this member of the public confidence.

These aren't cheap screens.  He said the fabric for all these screens cost $10,000.  The material, with the images of a skier, runner, and biker were specially ordered.

Chong was truly upset and trying to figure out how to fix these in a way that will still be attractive, but harder to destroy.

Another.



















Here they just slashed it.

And here they made a long narrow peek hole.

There's more, but I figure that's enough to get the idea across.




Of course, I wish I could talk with the person(s) who did this.  What was he thinking?  (Research seems to indicate it's almost always a male.)  I looked for interviews with vandals on google, but that got me to a talk with a rock group. 

A brief google search for research sort of confirmed this, but the research was old. It suggested that the need for

• love and security
• new experiences
• praise and recognition
• responsibility

were the basic causes for vandalism and violence.  From The Roots Of Vandalism and Violence:

Anger, hate and lack of concern for others are common reactions to being unloved and rejected.  Vandalism and violence are an expression of these feelings. 

I tend to believe this is the case, but while it said the findings were based on research, it didn't show the sources.

It's not a simple problem.  It's about getting parents training on how to raise their kids.  It's about schools making sure all kids' strengths can find expression and be rewarded.  It's about funding good pre-school programs and good day care.

It's about governments that put money into the education of young kids.  Our current legislature isn't going to decrease vandalism.  

Biking Good and Bads

First the bad. Dimond Blvd. between Old Seward and King Street. The shared trail along the street was thick with dust, sand, gravel and whatever else they used on the snow this winter. This makes riding - particularly if you have to make a sharp swerve or sudden stop - hazardous.





But there was an exception on this strip - all along where the Red Robin was. Someone from the Red Robin came out as I was taking the picture so I thanked him and confirmed that they did clean the sidewalk/trail. He said yes they did. Then added that he rides a bike. A little reminder that we see what we know and that people who bike see the parts of the world differently than people who don't. Again, thanks Red Robin for cleaning the path.


And now the good. I rode over to the Alaska Mac Store near the Dimond Mall (it moved from Old Seward and Tudor) for a Garage Band class via Lake Otis because I was cutting the time a little close. It took about 25 minutes from right near UAA. The trail along Lake Otis was nicely cleared of grit and sand, though on Lore Street and other streets much of the sand/gravel has just been pushed into what ought to be the bike lane. Also, to be clear, there are four Apple stores I know of in Anchorage. There's also the Mac Haus across the street from REI on Northern Lights, the Tech Zone upstairs at the UAA bookstore (their website is particularly lame), and the Apple Shop at Best Buy (their website is marginally better than UAA's, but it's not local) on Dimond.

After the class, I took the Campbell Creek trail home. I got on the trail from King Street at Taku Lake.




The feasibility of biking places is really in people's heads. If you're like most people, you just assume it's not possible. If you have two kids and a dog and need to stop at Costco it probably isn't, but if you're by yourself and need to go five miles or less each way and don't need to carry more than you can fit in a backpack (or bike basket) it is feasible. OK, if you haven't ridden a bike in ten years, maybe you should take a weekend leisurely ride to get your body accustomed first. But in Chiang Mai, we didn't have a car and it was bike or walk for most things. We even got good riding in Chiang Mai traffic. There are almost no bike paths and the sidewalks are hard enough to walk on let alone ride on. And back in Anchorage we've moved into assuming we're going by bike unless we have a good reason why that won't work.

In Anchorage, if your trip is in the right direction, you can do part of your ride in the woods. Mentally, riding along Campbell Creek, listening to the birds and the water, is much better than driving on any street in town. It's like a hidden wonderland, no cars allowed.

And for these short distances - even on the way back with lots of stopping to take pictures it was only about 35 minutes - it's not that much slower than driving. And definitely faster than waiting for the bus.

1 is near the Red Robin on Dimond.
2 is where I got on the trail at Taku Lake
3 is the Seward Highway. Here you get on a dirt trail and have to walk - even carry - the bike to get under the four bridges (a frontage road on each side and one bridge for north and one for southbound traffic) (This is scheduled for a real trail, but I don't know when.)
4 is Lake Otis where I left the trail and headed home. (The map is a creek map, not a bike trail map. 3-4 you don't go along the creek, but at 4 you get back to the creek.)

It then goes on a loops around over Tutor at Bragaw and connects to the Chester Creek trail and downtown. I'm hoping to post a guide for how to find the trail at the missing parts to do the whole loop including the Coastal Trail.