Since the 70's, members of the Cooper Landing community have advocated for a path through the community that would allow for safe passage by foot.

 

Our Mission

A "Walkable Community" as envisioned by the citizens of Cooper Landing provides safe travel space for pedestrians and cyclists, efficient vehicle passage, and Kenai River watershed protection.  It will connect neighbors to neighbors, trails to trails, and campgrounds to campgrounds.  A continuous safe pedestrian thread that winds through the community will promote healthy lifestyles by encouraging walking and biking as ways of moving from place to place.

The Cooper Landing “Walkable Community” Project was founded on the premise that our community could be made safer for pedestrians and road travelers alike if a walking/ biking trail that complemented the Sterling Highway and adjacent neighborhoods were available.  Such a set of trails would provide a way for visitors and residents to walk or bike from place to place in our community without having to enter the busy, sometimes dangerous, roadways.  It would connect the businesses and homes along its route and afford visitors and residents alike an opportunity to slow down and take in the spectacular scenery of our water, forests, mountains and history of this special part of Alaska by offering an enjoyable alternative to motorized travel through the Cooper Landing corridor.  

The Walkable Community Project is an effort of Cooper Landing Trails, a committee of the Cooper Landing Community Club.

“It feels wrong that we live in a small town but can’t really walk anywhere.”
— Susana LaRock

What We've Achieved

  • 2020 - Continued advocacy and partnership with Sterling Highway MP 45-60 planners to improve designs allows for the inclusion of an underpass near MP 46 to be included in project design maintaining access to Coyote Notch trails.

  • 2019 - Bean Creek Project moved forward with brushing and trail bed work. The footpath is now walkable from the Community Club to Bean Creek waterbody.

  • 2018 - A walkable Cooper Landing is a submitted as a part of a significant enough number of comments on the Final EIS of the Sterling Highway MP 45-60 project to result in an additional mitigation measure for the project to include:

    • A separated roadside pathway on the south side of the highway between Quartz Creek Road and the intersection of the "old" highway. The precise terminus at the western end and its connection to the existing "safety path" along the old highway will be determined during final design.

  • 2017 - Bean Creek Project has been initiated with a vote of support from the Cooper Landing Community Club.  Flagging has been laid out for the first portion of the project on the south side of Bean Creek Rd. westward from the Community Hall to Bean Creek.  Hand work on the trail will begin as funding for gravel and workers are available.

  • 2017 - Snug Harbor Project separated walk/bike pathway and paved roadside pathway to Senior Center completed.

  • 2015 - Capital Improvement Project funds used to upgrade path supports and safety measures and to replace existing bridge path timbers with fiber-grate panels.

  • 2012 - Secured $550,000 to be allocated by state budget for Capital Improvement Project to Walkable Project for upgrades to existing path.