Expect delays as Seward Meridian Parkway roadwork enters final months

What you need to know:

• Major work on the Seward Meridian Parkway expansion in Wasilla has entered its final months, with crews working around the clock to kick off the construction season.
• Drivers should expect some delays as flaggers stop traffic for construction vehicles. Access to Wasilla Lake via Cottonwood Creek from the road will be closed for the summer, along with the culvert connecting the seven-mile canoe route from Finger Lake.
• The $44 million project aims to widen the road to four lanes, link two sections via a new roadway and add key infrastructure improvements. It includes three new stoplight intersections, right-in, right-out entrances, a center median in some sections, and a bike path. Plans also call for about 100 streetlights, a new traffic and pedestrian bridge over Cottonwood Creek and changes to Lakeview Road.

WASILLA – Drivers can expect new slowdowns and delays along the busy Seward Meridian Parkway as construction crews kick off 24/7 operations for what state transportation officials say should be the final months of work on the road's major expansion project.

Work on the project restarted late last week after a pause for the winter. When completed, much of the thoroughfare will be widened to four lanes and extend from just south of Walmart to Seldon Road via a newly constructed roadway running parallel to the Alcantra National Guard Armory. The current construction starts at the intersection with the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

The $44 million federally funded project, which kicked off last year, will also add three new stoplight intersections, a series of right-in, right-out entrances for many of the road's businesses and medical parks, and a center median to prevent some left turns, state officials said.

Unless crews hit a major snag, work should be mostly completed by the end of the construction season, with all lanes fully open this year, said Jonathan Tague, a state Department of Transportation project engineer overseeing the effort. Some finishing touches may be left for 2026, such as moving some traffic lights on temporary overhead wires to permanent poles, he said.

Construction will run around the clock, seven days a week for about a month, then slow to five days a week, he said. Work will pause during major holidays, he said.

Traffic delays will be caused primarily by flaggers stopping vehicles to allow trucks to enter and exit the roadway, he said.

“That’s a safety thing. We don't want people to get into the work zone. And we don't want trucks cutting across live traffic. So there will be short little pauses,” he said.

Access to Wasilla Lake via Cottonwood Creek will be closed for the summer because of construction, as will the culvert connecting the popular seven-mile canoe route from Finger Lake and a portage over the road, Tague said.

Narrow and rutted, the route is traveled daily by about 13,000 vehicles as residents access businesses and some housing or use it as a connector from the heavily traveled Bogard Road. It is also the site of regular traffic accidents, including one fatality last year, Tague said.

Nineteen-year-old Wasilla resident Jessalyn Helms was killed last April in a collision near the intersection of Seward Meridian and East Country Field Circle when she failed to yield to traffic, according to Alaska public safety officials.

A new traffic signal is planned for that intersection as part of the project, Tague said.

Signals are also planned at the intersections of East Birchwood Drive and Meridian Loop, which is near the Ptarmigan Pediatrics office, and at a reconfigured entrance to Mat-Su Career & Technical High School south of Seldon Road.

The road will also receive several upgrades, including a new bike path from Seldon to the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, about 100 new streetlights, a new traffic and pedestrian bridge over Cottonwood Creek, and a new parking and recreational access area for the waterway.

The entrance to the Alcantra Alaska Army National Guard Armory will be moved from its current location on Bogard Road to a new entrance on the newly constructed section of Seward Meridian. The armory is used as a training facility and for state emergency response.

At the northernmost end of the project, work includes a slight widening of Bogard Road to allow for better flow south onto Seward Meridian, a section where traffic often backs up during school drop-off and pickup times, Tague said.

The entrance to Lakeview Road at its intersection with Seldon Road and Seward Meridian will also be reconfigured to straighten the approach and add a mini roundabout to calm traffic, Tague said. That winding road was designed for residential access but is often used as a link between Seldon and Wasilla-Fishhook roads.

Tague said he appreciates working on the project because he lives near the area and has seen firsthand how its challenges affect residents.

“When you are a regular road user you know the little quirks,” he said. “Once this is active, I'm going to feel a big sense of accomplishment with this being one continuous road all the way either out of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. That’s going to feel great.”

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com