COOPER LANDING WALKABLE COMMUNITY PROJECT
Though our efforts to have a safer and child-friendly community began in 1975 it wasn’t until 1993 that the local DOT crew created our “Safety Path” from MP 45-50. The Safety Path got D1 gravel surfacing that year through a legislatively approved grant. But it wasn’t until July, 2009 that the modern effort got under way through the charette* held in Cooper Landing that gathered stakeholders to examine our safety and access. It was from this charette* that our Cooper Landing Walkable Community Plan was developed. This plan was adopted into the Kenai Peninsula Borough Comprehensive Transportation Plan by the Borough Assembly in March of 2010 and has remained a part of that plan ever since. Click 2010 Cooper Landing Walkable Community Project to read the original plan. Click 2009 CLWCP Priority List to learn what the community voted as their priorities of the 16 projects identified in the original plan.
*Charette: A meeting in which all stakeholders in a project attempt to examine opinions, resolve differences, and map solutions.
TIMELINE OF COMMUNITY EFFORTS
AND OTHER SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
1975-76 and through the 1990’s Mona Painter and Jean Romig head a community effort that tries for several years to obtain a path through Cooper Landing to create safer access for children and all residents.
1993 The local AKDOT/PF/M&O Station crew creates the “Safety Path” from MP 45-MP 50. In late 1993 the State, through the STIP, grants the KPB $50,000.00 for the Safety Path. This money is used to hire a Contractor to place D-1 type crushed gravel on the path in the area between Bean Creek Road and Hamilton’s Place.
2005 A bike/pedestrian pathway was included in the Cooper Landing economic development plan.
2009 July Cooper Landing contracts and hosts national expert on walkable and livable communities, Dan Burden, through a non-motorized transportation grant from the Native Village of Eyak. A plan for creating walkable/bikeable paths in Cooper Landing is created.
2009 November The community votes on their priorities from the 17 projects outlined in the plan. A primary path through Cooper Landing and neighborhood paths are #1 and #2 priorities. Click November 2009 CLWCP Priority List to read the list of projects and how the community ranked them.
2009 Cooper Landing community’s #2 priority for Capital Improvement Project is Walkable Project.
2010 March The plan is adopted by ordinance into the Transportation Section of the Kenai Borough Comprehensive Plan. Assembly member Sue McClure sponsored the resolution. 26 community members, age 24-93, attend to show support!
2010 Summer A grant of $2.38 million from the Forest Highways Project is pre-awarded for Snug Harbor Road pathway and pavement to Senior Housing. Construction Start: 2015
2010 Fall CLWC Partnering Event is held. Agencies and legislators are brought together to help us formulate next steps.
2010 and 2011 Cooper Landing community’s #1 priority for Capital Improvement Project, as voted on by the community, is the Walkable Project.
2011 Spring Application for STIP was made. Cooper Landing WC Project placed 4th in their region and 10th Statewide with competition from Fairbanks, Ketchikan and Kodiak.
2011 Summer A community gathering is held. Vision and mission statements are developed.
2011 Fall A waiver was requested by AKDOT and granted by the Federal Highway Administration to scale back the 3R re-pavement and maintenance project on the Sterling Highway MP 45-60. This allowed them to avoid, among other things, inclusion of walking/biking paths.
2011 Winter Designed an interpretive panel along with Cooper Landing Historical Society and Kenai Mountain Turnagain Arm (KMTA) National Heritage Area. Matching grant came from KMTA. Alaska State Parks worked with us and designed the sign that is currently placed at the Cooper Landing Historical Society Museum.
2011 Winter/Spring Legislative contacts are made asking for monies for our project.
2012 Spring $550,000 state budget allocation for Capital Improvement Project to Walkable Project gateway sign and/or upgrade to existing path. The community voted to have the pathway on the Kenai River bridge modernized and made safe.
2012 Spring Presentation to Kenai Watershed Forum
2012 May First Cooper Landing Trail Run from Community Hall to old Our Pt of View site to help highlight the goals of the Walkable Community Project.
2012 Summer Interpretive panel along with Cooper Landing Historical Society and Kenai Mountain Turnagain Arm (KMTA) National Heritage Area delivered. Mounted temporarily at the Cooper Landing Historical Society Museum.
2012 Summer Initial visits by AKDOT Project Manager for the $550,000 state capital improvements award for our project.
2012 Fall/Winter USKH contracted by CLWC to estimate costs of bridge path and adjacent paths from King Salmon to Stetson Circle.
2013 Spring Mona Painter, local historian, contracted by CLWC to document historical buildings along Safety Path.
2013 Spring Snug Harbor Road paving to Senior Center and adjacent/separated path monies awarded by Western Federal Highways for national forest access grant application made in 2010.
2013 May Second Cooper Landing Trail Run from Community Hall to old Our Pt of View site
2014 May Third Cooper Landing Trail Run from Community Hall to old Our Pt of View site
2014 June Safety Path is enhanced (at the end of the highway re-pavement project) by widening back to original width and additional gravel placed in sections adjacent to the Kenai River bridge both east and west.
2015 May Fourth Cooper Landing Trail Run from Community Hall to old Our Pt of View site
2015 October Bridge Path completed
2016 May Snug Harbor Project construction started.
2016 May Fifth Cooper Landing Trail Run from Community Hall to old Our Pt of View site
2017 May Sixth Cooper Landing Trail Run from Community Hall to old Our Pt of View site
2017 May Fish-themed Metal Art by Paul Tornow purchased.
2017 June Snug Harbor Bike Pathway and Paving Project, Phase 1 workshop is held. Workshop outcome is two-fold: 1. How to enhance the pathway from Helen Rhode Park to Campus Drive for the users. 2. Develop a plan for pathway amenities on sections that may be completed in the future. Click 2017 Snug Harbor Pathway Plan to read about that project.
2017 September Snug Harbor Project for paving of Snug Harbor Rd. and bike/pedestrian pathway construction from Sterling Hwy. to Campus Dr. is completed. The first section of pathway from the Sterling Hwy to Lakeview Dr. is separated and paved.
2017 October Pedestrian alert signage installed on Sterling Hwy. for the interchange with Snug Harbor Rd and the new walking/biking path.
2018 rallied public comments on the Final EIS of the Sterling Highway MP 45-60 Project.
2018 June public and agency comments on the Final EIS result in additional mitigation measures being added to the project including a separated roadside pathway on the south side of the highway between Quartz Creek Road and the intersection of the “old highway” near MP 47, and underpasses maintaining access to the Slaughter Gulch and Bean Creek Trails.
2019 April With the help of KMTA, our CLWCP was able to enlist UAA Civil Engineering Capstone Project assistance. They completed a draft bridge design for Cooper Creek which could become a part of the solution sought for that complex site. See Cooper Creek Bridge under the Projects section of this website.
2019 Spring After brushing from the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge crew the fall prior, CLWCP crew completed work on the trail bed of the Bean Creek Trail. There is now a footpath from Cooper Landing Community Club to the Bean Creek waterbody and there are nice places to stop and look at the Kenai River.
2019 April With the help of KMTA, our CLWCP was able to enlist UAA Civil Engineering Capstone Project assistance. They completed a draft bridge design for Cooper Creek which could become a part of the solution sought for that complex site. See Cooper Creek Bridge under the Projects section of this website.
2019 Winter / 2020 Spring Advocacy for community concerns with Sterling Highway MP 45-60 Project 35% design plans resulting in inclusion of a pathway underpass near MP 45.5 maintaining north/south access to the Coyote Notch trail system.
2020 Fall Rallied public comment to Sterling Highway MP 45-60 project planners to demonstrate support for and resulting in the inclusion of a separated pathway along the length of the new alignment of the Sterling Highway.
