Kenai Peninsula Borough Transportation Plan Update Draft Final Plan Prepared for: Kenai Peninsula Borough Prepared by: HDR Alaska, Inc. 2525 C Street, Suite 305 Anchorage, Alaska 99503-2569 November 2003 Kenai Peninsula Borough Transportation Plan Draft Final Plan Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................1 2.0 ROADS .................................................................................................................................. 2 2.1 State Roads........................................................................................................................ 2 2.2 City Roads......................................................................................................................... 3 2.3 Village Roads.................................................................................................................... 3 2.4 Borough Road Service Area ........................................................................................... 3 2.4.1 Road Maintenance ................................................................................................... 4 2.4.2 Construction and Improvement of Borough Roads ........................................... 5 2.4.3 Environmental Standards and Fish Passage........................................................ 5 2.5 Bridges............................................................................................................................... 5 2.6 Traffic Regulation ............................................................................................................ 6 2.7 Corridor Preservation...................................................................................................... 6 3.0 TRAFFIC DATA AND MODEL DEVELOPMENT....................................................... 10 3.1 Traffic Data..................................................................................................................... 10 3.2 Traffic Demand Model.................................................................................................. 10 4.0 TRAILS ................................................................................................................................ 14 5.0 TRANSIT............................................................................................................................. 15 6.0 PORTS AND HARBORS................................................................................................... 18 6.1 Port and Harbor Authority........................................................................................... 19 6.2 Existing Ports and Harbors........................................................................................... 20 6.2.1 Anchor River........................................................................................................... 21 6.2.2 Homer...................................................................................................................... 21 6.2.3 Kenai ........................................................................................................................ 22 6.2.4 Nanwalek ................................................................................................................ 23 6.2.5 Nikiski ..................................................................................................................... 23 6.2.6 Ninilchik/Deep Creek............................................................................................ 23 6.2.7 City of Seldovia and Seldovia Village................................................................. 24 6.2.8 Seward ..................................................................................................................... 25 6.2.9 Kasilof...................................................................................................................... 27 6.2.10 Port Graham ........................................................................................................... 28 6.2.11 West Side of Cook Inlet......................................................................................... 28 6.3 Financing for Port and Harbor Improvements.......................................................... 30 6.3.1 State Funding.......................................................................................................... 30 6.3.2 Federal Funding ..................................................................................................... 31 7.0 ALASKA MARINE HIGHWAY SYSTEM...................................................................... 31 8.0 AIRPORTS........................................................................................................................... 34 8.1 Central Peninsula........................................................................................................... 34 Page i Kenai Peninsula Borough Transportation Plan Draft Final Plan 8.2 Southern Peninsula........................................................................................................ 36 8.3 Eastern Peninsula........................................................................................................... 37 8.4 Western Borough........................................................................................................... 38 9.0 THE ALASKA RAILROAD.............................................................................................. 38 10.0 TRANSPORTATION-RELATED HAZARDS................................................................ 40 11.0 LONG–TERM TRANSPORATION VISIONS................................................................ 40 11.1 Railroad Extension......................................................................................................... 40 11.2 Turnagain Arm Road Crossing.................................................................................... 40 11.3 West Side of Cook Inlet................................................................................................. 41 12.0 TRANSPORTATION ISSUES........................................................................................... 42 12.1 Roads ............................................................................................................................... 42 12.2 Trails ................................................................................................................................ 44 12.3 Transit.............................................................................................................................. 45 12.4 Ports and Harbors.......................................................................................................... 45 12.5 Airports ........................................................................................................................... 46 12.6 Alaska Railroad .............................................................................................................. 47 13.0 TRANSPORTATION PLAN GOALS AND OBJECTIVES........................................... 48 13.1 Roads ............................................................................................................................... 48 13.2 Roadside/Urban Trails .................................................................................................. 51 13.3 Ports and Harbors.......................................................................................................... 52 13.4 Airports ........................................................................................................................... 52 13.5 The Alaska Railroad ...................................................................................................... 53 13.6 Transportation Planning............................................................................................... 54 List of Figures On or following page Figure 1: State, Borough and City Bridges............................................................................... 7 Figure 2: Kenai Peninsula Borough Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)..................11 Figure 3: Historical Average Daily Traffic Sterling Highway 6 Miles East of Soldotna. 12 Figure 4: 2002 ADT by Month Sterling Highway 6 Miles East of Soldotna...................... 12 Figure 5: CARTS Ridership by Rider Category .................................................................... 16 Figure 6: CARTS Ridership by Trip Purpose ........................................................................ 17 Figure 7: CARTS Ridership by Year and Trip Purpose ....................................................... 17 Figure 8: Central Area Rural Transit System (CARTS) Service Area ................................ 18 Figure 9: Kenai Peninsula Borough Ports and Harbors Overview .................................... 20 Figure 10: AMHS Southcentral Alaska Routes ....................................................................... 31 Figure 11: Kenai Peninsula Borough Airports ........................................................................ 35 Page ii Kenai Peninsula Borough Transportation Plan Draft Final Plan List of Tables Table 1. QRS II Model Predictions of Problem Road Segments........................................... 13 Table 2. Southcentral Alaska Route: Routes and Running Times ....................................... 32 Table 3. Comparison of AMHS Southwest Service Visits to Borough Communities......