New Seward-Meridian Parkway connector set to open soon
The road creates a new connection between the Seldon corridor and the Parks Highway.
What you need to know:
- A new connector between Seldon and Bogard roads in Wasilla is expected to open by Aug. 31, creating a continuous, nearly 2.5-mile route from the Seldon corridor to the Parks Highway and Walmart.
- The opening was delayed beyond the start of the school year in part because of materials backlogs, officials said.
- The $44 million, multiyear project widened the road from two to four lanes and added traffic signals, controlled access points, a pedestrian path, more than 100 streetlights and other improvements.
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WASILLA — A new Seward-Meridian Parkway extension linking Seldon and Bogard roads will open by the end of the month, state transportation officials said last week.
The new road marks the end of a yearslong project to fix and extend the major north-south thoroughfare.
When complete, the road will create a continuous, nearly 2.5-mile route from the Seldon corridor to the Parks Highway and Walmart.
The new half-mile cut-through lets drivers reach Seward-Meridian Parkway by passing in front of Career and Technical High School and Fronteras Charter School rather than taking a miles-long detour to connect to it via Bogard Road.
State transportation officials originally targeted the start of the school year for the project's completion and the road's opening. Materials delays and a backlog at the Granite Construction asphalt facility near Palmer pushed back those plans, said Jonathan Tague, the state transportation project engineer overseeing the work.
Asphalt should be available starting this week, he said. Once it is laid, crews will move on to striping the road and finishing a new permanent traffic signal at the intersection of Bogard Road and Seward-Meridian Parkway.
Tague said he hopes to have the road fully open by Aug. 31.
"We're doing whatever we can to try to get this thing done and get things opened up," he said Friday. "We appreciate people's patience — we're very, very close to the finish line."
The $44 million federally funded project began in 2024, widening and resurfacing the deeply rutted two-lane road and converting it to a four-lane thoroughfare with signals and controlled entries and exits at Cottonwood Creek Elementary School and the area's busy medical parks and businesses.
The project also added a pedestrian path running the length of the road, more than 100 streetlights and a new parking area with access to Cottonwood Creek.
More than 13,000 vehicles travel Seward-Meridian Parkway daily, according to state traffic data.
-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com