GIRDWOOD, Alaska -- Crow Creek Road spans four miles of natural wonder about 35 miles south of Anchorage.

But the road is unpaved and hard to maintain. Work to change that has irked some area residents who claim the road they are getting is more than they need.

Workers are busy clearing timber and after years of grading the unruly gravel road, the state Department of Transportation is making things more permanent.

"We are basically going to reconstruct the Crow Creek Road," DOT Project Manager Alan Drake said. "The bad material that's in the roadway from the original constructions, we are going to remove that material and replace it with good clean gravel."

The $2.2 million project will also pave the road for seven-tenths of a mile from the Alyeska Highway to California Creek where a new, two-lane bridge and school bus turnaround will complete the work.

Some area residents say the project, with each tree falling down, is changing the feel of Girdwood and the valley itself.

"I feel they took out a lot more than they really needed to," resident Katharina Shoffner said. "I understand their reason for it, but it is not Girdwood."

Bob Parsons owns the Double Musky Inn, perhaps the best-known landmark on the road. He says he is losing two and a half acres -- almost $1 million worth of property right of way -- to the new roadwork.

Further, Parsons claims the work was never requested by people living on the road.

"We've never called and said ‘hey, there's potholes from hell down here,' nothing," he said. "Everybody has always loved living on this road."

The Girdwood Board of Supervisors originally requested money for road upgrades in 2004. The town was hoping a $10 million federal earmark from Sen. Ted Stevens would cover the costs of maintaining and paving many of the rustic dirt roads that weave through the valley here.

But since the project specified "road improvements," the funds were allocated to the state Department of Transportation.

The state only manages two roadways in Girdwood: the Alyeska Highway and Crow Creek Road.

"The Girdwood citizens did not want to have the entirety of Crow Creek Road paved," former Girdwood Board of Supervisors chair Tracey Knutson said. "We were the grateful recipients of that economic development money."

So a deal was cut. Girdwood officials say $2.2 million was sent to DOT for Crow Creek, while the remaining $7.8 million was spread around to other projects, including a new town center development and a park-and-ride facility.

But not everybody thinks Crow Creek Road should remain a country lane, pointing out that "economic development" was the reason behind the earmark.

"You've got a national forest up there, which goes to a state park. You have Crow Creek Mine, which is a very heavy-visited tourist area," resident Diane Powers said.

Back on the road, state work crews continue clearing land for the improved road, which will amount to .7 miles of new black top in a town with little.

Does it amounts to a good start toward an improved Girdwood economy? Or is it just another example of city life encroaching on the small settlement, nestled among seven pristine ice glaciers?

One way or another, state workers say the Crow Creek Road improvements will be complete by summer's end.

The Municipality of Anchorage, through the Heritage Land Bank, plans to develop land farther up Crow Creek Road.

City officials say water and wastewater utilities could be installed in the area within two years -- a development officials say could require more paved road in the future for Crow Creek.

Contact Sean Doogan at sdoogan@ktuu.com