Juneau Loop Road: Valley Boulevard Intersection Safety Improvements

Project # SFHWY00403

 

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is proposing to construct a single-lane roundabout at the intersection of Mendenhall Loop Road (Loop Road), Mendenhall Boulevard, and Valley Boulevard in the Mendenhall Valley Area in Juneau, Alaska.

The proposed project would:

• Replace the existing signalized intersection with a single-lane roundabout
• Widen the footprint of the intersection, acquiring adjacent right-of-way (ROW)
• Evaluate locations of bus pullouts
• Add splitter islands to separate lanes on approach to intersection
• Interact with drainage structures

Project History

Mendenhall Loop Road is key part of the traffic circulation in the Mendenhall Valley area for a high number of residents and is the primary route for tourists and commercial traffic to and from the Mendenhall Glacier. The corridor has a long history of elevated crash rates at several of the signalized intersections.

The Valley Boulevard Intersection project is the third roundabout to be completed as part of the Mendenhall Loop Road Capacity Improvements project, which resulted in the construction of two new roundabouts south of Valley Boulevard. Together with the previous roundabout projects, this project will greatly improve traffic safety and operations in the Mendenhall Loop Road corridor, resolve maintenance issues, reduce costs, and improve pedestrian facilities to meet current Americans with Disabilities (ADA) standards.

Due to lack of available construction funding in past years, the Mendenhall Loop Road and Valley Boulevard intersection and resurfacing project was deferred. Recently, this project qualified for Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funding and is now moving ahead.

Many of the prior steps, such as environmental documentation, preliminary design, and design study, are being reviewed, updated, and resubmitted. The prior work is generally less than five years old and can be used to simplify and reduce the design work that must be completed as part of this project.

To contact the project team, send an email to JNULoopRoad@dowl.com, call Public Involvement at (907) 562-2000, or fill out the comment form here.

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The environmental review, consultation, and other actions required by applicable Federal environmental laws for this project are being, or have been, carried out by DOT&PF pursuant to 23 U.S.C. 327 and a Memorandum of Understanding dated April 13, 2023, and executed by FHWA and DOT&PF.