3.0 Affected Environment - Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority

Knik Arm Crossing DraftFinal EIS
Affected Environment
The Study Area provides a full range of landscapes, from urban to undisturbed. The urban
landscapes are generally industrial in nature in the Ship Creek drainage and industrial to
residential and undeveloped on the bluff north of the Ship Creek drainage. Across Knik Arm,
a seldom-traveled arm of Cook Inlet over which the proposed bridge would be located, they
are of open water, tidal flats, and wooded bluffs. Along the western portion of the Study
Area, landscape settings vary from rural to undisturbed.
3.6.3.2 Viewsheds
The Study viewsheds—the more or less linear areas from which it would be possible to see
the proposed project—includes the Mat-Su, the Government Hill neighborhood, the Ship
Creek area, locations south of Ship Creek, Downtown Anchorage, and local parks, as well as
the proposed roadway and bridge.
3.6.3.2.1 Landscape units
To provide a framework for analyzing the visual environment, six landscape units have been
identified based on the interaction of land use, land cover, and building form. Each unit has a
distinct visual character and would be an important element in managing any visual effects of
the proposed project. See Figure 3.37 for the landscape unit locations.
Mat-Su Borough Uplands
This landscape unit extends north from the bridge landing at the western edge of Knik Arm
and includes all lands between the landing and Knik-Goose Bay Road. It is an area generally
composed of upland boreal forest with smaller wetland areas interspersed throughout. The
upland forest is characterized by mixed stands of paper birch and white spruce, with
occasional balsam poplar, quaking aspen, willow, and alder. The interior lowlands are mostly
wetlands of the bog and fen type, consisting of sedge and sphagnum mat with ericaceous
shrubs and occasional stands of black spruce. Other than roadways and intermittent clearings,
there is little disturbance to the natural setting.
Knik Arm
This landscape unit encompasses the water region that extends from the shore north of Port
MacKenzie on the west to the bluff along the Anchorage side on the east.
Eastern Bluff
This landscape unit stretches from the landing where the proposed KAC bridge would
connect with the bluff along the north edge of the POA. The unit generally is a steeply
sloping (approximately 2:1, vertical-to-horizontal) bluff, varying from 50 to 150 feet in
height, and generally wooded.
3-148 12/18/07