Cooper Landing bypass

The mountains loom over a grocery store on the Sterling Highway on Wednesday, April 11, 2018 in Cooper Landing, Alaska. The Sterling Highway, the main corridor to and from the Kenai Peninsula, winds through the little community of Cooper Landing, often bringing dense traffic and car accidents with it, particularly in the summer. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Design to start on Cooper Landing bypass

Design is set to start on a new stretch of the Sterling Highway around Cooper Landing after the state and federal agencies in charge of… Continue reading

 

Snow-covered mountains provide a backdrop for Cooper Landing in this April 11 photo. The Sterling Highway, the main corridor to and from the Kenai Peninsula, winds through the little community of Cooper Landing, often bringing dense traffic and car accidents with it, particularly in the summer. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Resolution would ask DOT to lower Cooper Landing speed limit

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly may ask the state to drop the speed limit on part of the Sterling Highway near Cooper Landing. The assembly… Continue reading

 

Bypass may bump businesses, boggle bears

Plans to relocate five miles of the Sterling Highway through the hills around Cooper Landing have been under way since the 1970s, but questions about… Continue reading

 

There are four different options to relocate a 15-mile stretch of the Sterling Highway in order to avoid Cooper Landing including the Juneau Creek Alternative, which Governor Bill Walker and the Alaska congressional delegation prefer, and the G-South Alternative, which is the federal governments choice route. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

Walker, congressional delegation advocate for northern Cooper Landing bypass route

Gov. Bill Walker and Alaska’s congressional delegation are asking for a resolution in the long-running dispute on how to build a 15-mile bypass of a… Continue reading

There are four different options to relocate a 15-mile stretch of the Sterling Highway in order to avoid Cooper Landing including the Juneau Creek Alternative, which Governor Bill Walker and the Alaska congressional delegation prefer, and the G-South Alternative, which is the federal governments choice route. (Photo courtesy of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Mark Luiken (front left) signs the final Environmental Impact Statement for the long-awaited Cooper Landing Bypass project as Federal Highway Administration Division Administrator Sandra Garcia-Aline (front right) and (back row, from left) Rep. Gary Knopp (R-Kenai), Gov. Bill Walker and Sen. Peter Micciche (R-Soldotna) look on Wednesday, March 7, 2018 in Juneau, Alaska. The Cooper Landing bypass, officially known as the Sterling Highway Milepost 45&

Juneau Creek route ID’d as preferred in Cooper Landing road EIS

The final environmental permitting document for the long-planned Cooper Landing bypass ditches a controversial decision to relocate the Sterling Highway around Cooper Landing via a… Continue reading

Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities Commissioner Mark Luiken (front left) signs the final Environmental Impact Statement for the long-awaited Cooper Landing Bypass project as Federal Highway Administration Division Administrator Sandra Garcia-Aline (front right) and (back row, from left) Rep. Gary Knopp (R-Kenai), Gov. Bill Walker and Sen. Peter Micciche (R-Soldotna) look on Wednesday, March 7, 2018 in Juneau, Alaska. The Cooper Landing bypass, officially known as the Sterling Highway Milepost 45&
Illustration courtesy Alaska Department of Transportation This map illustrates the routes each of the four Cooper Landing Bypass alternatives would take, along with the existing Sterling Highway route. The project would likely cost between $250 and $304 million with construction beginning in 2018.

DOT unveils options for Cooper Landing Bypass

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities wants feedback on plans to move the Sterling Highway around Cooper Landing. DOT released a draft supplemental… Continue reading

Illustration courtesy Alaska Department of Transportation This map illustrates the routes each of the four Cooper Landing Bypass alternatives would take, along with the existing Sterling Highway route. The project would likely cost between $250 and $304 million with construction beginning in 2018.
Alaska Department of Transportation This map from an Alaska Department of Transportation website shows the preferred route of the 5.5-mile Cooper Landing bypass, expected to be added to the Sterling Highway around 2018.

Borough opposes DOT Cooper Landing bypass route

Several organizations, including the Kenai Peninsula Borough, have come out in opposition to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ selected route for a… Continue reading

Alaska Department of Transportation This map from an Alaska Department of Transportation website shows the preferred route of the 5.5-mile Cooper Landing bypass, expected to be added to the Sterling Highway around 2018.
Alaska Department of Transportation This map from an Alaska Department of Transportation website shows the preferred route of the 5.5-mile Cooper Landing bypass, expected to be added to the Sterling Highway around 2018.

Path chosen for Cooper Landing bypass

After considering several possible paths for a new highway section around Cooper Landing, the Alaska Department of Transportation named its preferred path for the new… Continue reading

Alaska Department of Transportation This map from an Alaska Department of Transportation website shows the preferred route of the 5.5-mile Cooper Landing bypass, expected to be added to the Sterling Highway around 2018.

Juneau Creek route for bypass unlikely

The state and the stakeholders are stuck between a rock and a number of legal hard places on the long-awaited Cooper Landing Bypass project. The… Continue reading

In this April 2017 photo, the Sterling Highway crosses the Kenai River and runs through the community of Cooper Landing, Alaska. The federal and state departments of transportation have been looking at rerouting the highway since the 1970s to avoid the town of Cooper Landing, where traffic must slow down to 35 miles per hour and run through an area that becomes congested in the summer. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Decision to reevaluate Cooper Landing bypass route met with relief

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to show that the land swap between Cook Inlet Region, Inc. and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service… Continue reading

In this April 2017 photo, the Sterling Highway crosses the Kenai River and runs through the community of Cooper Landing, Alaska. The federal and state departments of transportation have been looking at rerouting the highway since the 1970s to avoid the town of Cooper Landing, where traffic must slow down to 35 miles per hour and run through an area that becomes congested in the summer. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Alternatives to be considered again on Cooper Landing bypass

The Alaska and federal transportation departments have inked a deal allowing the state to assume permitting responsibility on federally funded projects, which should speed environmental… Continue reading