Easing the near-legendary congestion at that Midtown intersection is among the Anchorage projects Claman says he hopes to target with the federal recovery dollars.
Other road and transportation prospects listed by Claman at a press conference Tuesday afternoon:
• Repairing and rebuilding parts of the Old Glenn Highway;
• Improving People Mover bus stops in the university areas, and upgrading the city's bus barn and related facilities;
• Rehabbing the Chester Creek trail, and making other trail system fixes.
Altogether, Claman says he thinks Anchorage could get between $300 million and $400 million through the 400-page, $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama last week.
Some of that money would be channeled through state agencies like the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. Other funds could come directly to Anchorage, according to Claman and other city officials, including technology grants to the police department and about $450,000 for upgrades to the department's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Another $2 million to $3 million could come to Anchorage for "energy efficiency improvements," the mayor's statement says.
City and state officials have been reviewing and refining lists of "shovel ready" construction, road, bridge and transit projects for weeks. That effort, along with reviews of grant-eligible service projects, is ramping up even more now.
Half of the money channeled to states through the Federal Highway Administration has to be obligated to projects within 120 days, the rest within a year. Money that the state doesn't get qualified for could be redirected to other parts of the country.
"This whole process is moving very rapidly," Claman said Tuesday.
"That's the priority from the White House, and that's my priority ... to get these projects applied for so we can start working."
Claman has previously listed reconstruction of the entrance to Loussac Library, major rut repair and pavement fixes for local roads, and the ongoing expansion project at the Port of Anchorage among other projects that could be eligible for stimulus funding.
The city plans to make information about its stimulus package available on a Web page. There's a link on the city's main Web page at www.muni.org .
Contact Don Hunter at dhunter@adn.com or 257-4349.
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