City of Homer staff recently met with state partners from the Alaska Department of Transportation and the Division of Natural Resources to discuss the Homer All-Ages and Abilities Pathway project, a planned pedestrian route that aims to connect existing sidewalks and create greater non-motorized transportation access in Homer.
The HAAP project was approved for federal pass-through funding through DOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program in 2024 and included in the 2024-2027 Statewide Transportation Improvements Program. The city was awarded $3,486,787 in federal funds for the project and will also provide a 10.03% match through the Homer Accelerated Roads and Trails Fund, or HART Fund.
On Oct. 16, Homer City Council member Bradley Parsons and city staff members conducted a site visit with DOT and DNR representatives, walking the project route, discussing the city’s prioritized pathways for construction and gathering information to next develop cost estimates and designs.
According to City of Homer Special Projects and Communications Coordinator Jenny Carroll, the first year of the project schedule is expected to produce a scope schedule and cost estimate. DOT will also begin their design phase and environmental review and permitting after the scope of the project has been established and DOT and the City of Homer enter into a memorandum of agreement.
“Once we do that, then there will be an ordinance that comes before (city) council to commit the local match funds,” she said. “We’ve committed it softly for the application (and) it’s set aside in the budget, but we haven’t appropriated that money from the HART fund yet. So the next thing people will know when we’re moving forward is that an ordinance will come forward to council.”
Ideally, Carroll said, DOT will work with utilities and rights of way in year two, and construction will begin in year three.
“These projects tend to draw out longer, but that’s how it’s programmed in the STIP,” she said.
Currently the city has highlighted sections of Main Street and Svedlund Street for their top priorities in HAAP project development.
Carroll also thanked the community and “walkability enthusiasts” in Homer for their support of the HAAP project and the city’s application to see this project come to life.
“There’s been a lot of input from our community about walkability, and we’re just really pleased to be able to leverage some state and federal funds to do at least some of the most prominent sidewalks in the core of our town,” she said. “We couldn’t have done it without the support of the walkability enthusiasts in our town.”
Representatives from the Alaska State Department of Transportation and Division of Natural Resources walk Svedlund Street, one of the priority locations for the Homer All-Ages and Abilities Pathway project, on Oct. 16, 2025, in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of the City of Homer
Homer City Council member Bradley Parsons discusses the Homer All-Ages and Abilities Pathway project with Alaska Department of Transportation and Division of Natural Resources representatives during a site visit on Oct. 16, 2025, in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy of the City of Homer
