3.0 Affected Environment - Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority

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Knik Arm Crossing DraftFinal EIS Affected Environment Planned improvements ARRC is in the design and engineering phase of an Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) and associated improvements in the Ship Creek area adjacent to the POA. Planned improvements also include construction of additional tracks in the Ship Creek area and a new car shop in Anchorage. The purpose of the project is to facilitate connections from one transportation mode to another—rail, public transit, air, marine, bus, taxi, private vehicle, bicycle, and pedestrian—and to improve links to the central business district to meet passenger transit needs over the next 30 years. 3.2.2.4 Air transportation There are five airports relevant to the Study Area: Sleepers Strip Airport at Point MacKenzie, Elmendorf, Sixmile Lake, Merrill Field, and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Airport approaches and facilities in the Study Area that must be avoided are shown in Figure 3.11. 3.2.2.4.1 Sleepers Strip Sleepers Strip landing area is located at Point MacKenzie, 46 miles south of the Parks Highway. Road. Access to the airport is by way of Point MacKenzie Road, which ends at a gravel four-wheel drive road heading into Sleepers Strip Airport. The airport is at an elevation of 125 feet. The single gravel runway is 1,600 feet long and 60 feet wide. Average annual flights are 110 aircraft per year, 91 percent of which are air taxis and the remainder, transient general aviation. 3.2.2.4.2 Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport By the virtue of Alaska’s geographic position, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is a national and international transfer point for the movement of goods and people. In 2004, Anchorage was the number one cargo airport in the United States in terms of landed weight, exceeding the number two facility, which is in Memphis, by over 11 percent and all other U.S. airports by more than 100 percent. The airport is 4 miles southwest of Downtown Anchorage, at the entrance to Knik Arm. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), as of May 12, 2005, Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport was accommodating 793 aircraft per day. The airfield capacity from the current runway configuration and operations is approximately 363,000 annual aircraft operations (995 per day). In addition to serving large international and domestic aircraft, the airport is also home to the Lake Hood Seaplane Base, which is the largest and busiest seaplane base in the world. It averages approximately 40,000 aircraft operations per year, with up to 600 aircraft operations per day in the summer. There are 500 float plane berths at Lake Hood, and a waitlist of 230, which is estimated to be 6 years. Many aircraft flying from/to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport complex traverse the area just west of Point MacKenzie. In 1969, the Division of Aviation submitted a quitclaim deed to the Division of Lands to reserve airport lands in this area. Between 1969 and 1980, quantities changed and quitclaim deeds were resubmitted for approval, but were Page 3-54 12/18/07
Knik Arm Crossing DraftFinal EIS Affected Environment never approved. In 1980, the Department of Natural Resources wanted to have an Agriculture Land Sale on the same parcels, so the case was closed. Although the aviation reserve was on plat maps, case ADL 51589 verifies that—although widely believed—an aviation reserve was never approved and does not exist in the Mat-Su. 3.2.2.4.3 Elmendorf Elmendorf, located a mile north of Downtown Anchorage, is responsible for protecting the northern U.S. border. Equipped with 75 aircraft, Elmendorf is the largest Alaska Air Force Base. Elmendorf has two runways, a 10,000-foot-long by 200-foot-wide east-west runway and a 7,500-foot-long by 150-foot north-south runway, designed and built for sustained aircraft landings and takeoffs. The primary runway orientation and flight patterns place aircraft directly over Point MacKenzie and approximately perpendicular to Knik Arm on their approach to the east-west runway. 3.2.2.4.4 Sixmile Lake The Sixmile Lake landing area is located near the shore of Knik Arm just north of the Elmendorf runway. The lake is designated for floatplane use. The water operating area is oriented northwest-southeast and is approximately 3,600 feet long by 300 feet wide. There is a floatplane dock and vehicle parking. In addition, there is a 1,600-foot by 50-foot gravel airstrip. There are approximately 20 float planes and 10 wheeled aircraft based at the facilities. Approaches and departures take planes over Knik Arm, north of the proposed crossing location. 3.2.2.4.5 Merrill Field Merrill Field is a municipal general aviation airport located in north Anchorage along 5th Avenue east of Gambell and Ingra Streets. Merrill Field has three runways, a north-south crosswind runway that is 2,640 feet long by 75 feet wide, a primary east-west runway that is 4,000 feet long by 100 feet wide, and a 2,000-foot by 60-foot wide gravel runway. With around 900 based aircraft, Merrill Field is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the United States, and also has a 2,000-foot long by 60-foot wide gravel runway oriented northeast/southwest. Because of Merrill Field’s location in the complex airspace in the Anchorage vicinity, the primary routing of flights in and out of the Merrill Field takes planes through an airspace corridor that is just south of the proposed crossing location. 3.2.2.5 Pedestrians and bicyclists 3.2.2.5.1 The Mat-Su The Mat-Su has a large network of recreational trails to support dog sledding, skiing, skijoring (skiing while pulled by a dog), snowmachining, all-terrain vehicle (ATV) riding, biking, hiking, canoeing, and equestrian riding. These trails include the Iditarod Trail, Nancy Lake Canoeing Trail, and bicycle/pedestrian paths including a paved bike-pedestrian path that runs from the Parks Highway approximately 9 miles along the Knik-Goose Bay Road to West Carmel Road. A paved path also follows the Big Lake Road for 4 miles, from the Parks Highway to Hollywood Road, and a paved trail runs along the north side of the Parks Highway from Lucas Road to Willow for a length of approximately 26 miles. Other trails, 12/18/07 Page 3-55
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3.0 Affected Environment - Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority

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