DOT targets 2025 start for $81M Steese/Johansen project

A diagram of the Steese/Johansen Expressway Interchange project

A massive $81 million overhaul of the Steese/Johansen interchange will be slated to start in 2025, with a full construction ramp-up starting the following year, according to Alaska Department of Transportation Project Manager Jennifer Wright.

Wright provided an update to the Fairbanks Area Surface Transportation Planning technical committee Wednesday, highlighting that the project is currently in a right-of-way and easement acquisition phase.

The project received formal support from the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly in April following a lengthy discussion about construction and traffic impacts.

“It’s such a critical node for people heading north to the North Slope and for commuters who live north of town on Farmers Loop Road, out on Chena Hot Springs Road or in Fox,” Wright said.

DOT settled on a design called a “diverging diamond” interchange and bridge which will improve the traffic flow.

“It moves vehicles more efficiently through the intersection, specifically traffic coming down the Johansen and making that left turn,” Wright said. “It enhances the bike and pedestrian access and the routes they take and solves long-term congestion and safety relief you would get from a more efficient intersection.”

She noted the concept will be a new one for Fairbanks. The Anchorage area already has a similar diverging diamond intersection at the Muldoon/Glenn Highway Interchange.

The new intersection crossover would include two-phase signals, turning traffic at the on ramps would only go through one signal and ensure quicker traffic. Traffic existing at the off ramps would run at the same time without opposition and the left turns at on ramps would be free flowing.

Wright said the project would vastly improve traffic flow and safety, pedestrian and bicycle routes. Pedestrians would be crossing on islands rather than across six lanes of traffic.

The project will require significant right-of-way acquisitions, including a small strip of Seekins Ford, relocating the Birch Hill Cemetery’s cold storage building and the complete acquisition of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Lazelle Road.

“We are in our appraisal stages of the right-of-way acquisition,” Wright said. “A lot of area is needed for the ramps and drainage areas.”

DOT’s first phase will involve a pedestrian connector leading from Farmers Loop Extension Road to Farmers Loop Road, along with improvements to the existing bike path. The path will remain after the project as a whole is completed.

A temporary traffic detour will also be installed, rerouting Johansen Expressway traffic onto Old Steese Highway at Northside Boulevard. Once DOT completes the interchange project, the temporary reroute will be removed.

During full construction, targeted to start in 2026, at least one lane on the Steese Highway would be closed. Wright said the design includes a sound wall from West Trainor Gate Road to Shannon Park Baptist Church.

A heavily supported ski tunnel, or underpass, will be included in the design phase, Wright said. The underpass would provide a connection between Farmers Loop and Birch Hill Recreation Area trails. The largest concern to date has been funding for the tunnel, estimated at $2 million.

“That ski tunnel will fit into the design of the project, we are carrying it forward in our project but we still need to figure out the funding for its construction,” Wright said. “We’ve been working with the borough coordinating on that aspect.”

She added the Assembly’s recent adoption of an updated comprehensive recreation trails plan helps since it includes the proposed trail connection. An adopted trails plan would open up potential new funding opportunities.

DOT plans to hold an open house later this fall about the project at a date and time to be determined. For more information on the project, visit dot.alaska.gov/nreg/steese-johansen.

Contact reporter Jack Barnwell at 907-459-7587 or [email protected].