3.0 Affected Environment - Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority

Knik Arm Crossing DraftFinal EIS
Affected Environment
trails are designed as long-distance trails with minimal road and driveway crossings. A
planned portion of the Ship Creek Trail would be located on land owned by ARRC, which.
has granted a permit to the Municipality of Anchorage for construction and maintenance of
this portion of the trail. This land was transferred to the state railroad for transportation
purposes. On the basis of this factor and the terms of the permit, FHWA has determined that
the portion of the trail that would be constructed on this ARRC parcel is not subject to
Section 4(f) protection
Details of the sites considered by FHWA to be Section 4(f) resources are discussed in
Section 3.7 of this Draft EIS and are provided in greater detail in Sections 1.2.1, 1.2.2,
and 1.2.5 of the Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation, located at the end of this document.
3.6.2.3.3 Anchorage Bowl draft parks planning
The (Draft) Anchorage Bowl – Park, Natural Resources, and Recreation Facility Plan,
which was adopted by the Assembly in April 2006, (MOA 2005g) identifies the need to
develop new facilities, parking, and play areas at two Government Hill Parks: Brown’s Point
Park and Richardson Vista Park. The draft plan also identifies completion of the Ship Creek
Trail as well as a Government Hill connection to the Ship Creek Trail as priorities. Other trail
improvements identified in the draft plan near the Anchorage portion of the Study Area are
development of the Midtown Trail along the C Street corridor and completion of 5th and
6th Avenue improvements from C Street to Ingra Street.
The draft plan also includes recommendations for research, signs, and reconstruction of the
historically accurate Iditarod Trail. Connecting trails in the study area—part of the Iditarod
National Historic Trail system—include routes along Ship Creek and from Ship Creek
northward. .
3.6.3 Visual Environment
FHWA’s Environmental Impact Statement Visual Impact Discussion (n.d.) requires that a
system be used to evaluate the visual character and quality of an area. The process used for
this analysis is adopted from FHWA’s Visual Impact Assessment for Highway Projects
(1981) and includes subdividing the corridor into landscape units and defining viewsheds,
viewer groups, and the visual character and quality of the units. The results of the existing
visual character and quality analysis provide the framework for comparing the visual impacts
of the proposed project.
3.6.3.1 Regional context
Landscape components are the physical elements that make up the landscape, including
landform, water, vegetation, and man-made development. The general landscape setting of
the area is characterized by a broad, glacial-fed arm of Cook Inlet, bordered by bluffs that lie
below relatively low upland areas. The upland areas tend to be flat to gently rolling, typical
of remnant glacial landforms.
12/18/07 3-147