MAT-SU — Long lines of cars snaking their way along area roads this summer are becoming shorter lately.

Scheduled upgrades to the intersections of Hyer Road and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and the Parks Highway and Vine Road are complete, and state Department of Transportation Project Engineer Dave Filucci said the gaps between traffic along the roads have made it safer for drivers.

“We think it’s really, really going to help out here,” Filucci said of the improvements.

ROBERT DeBERRY/Frontiersman Leslie Wright keeps traffic slow near the intersection of Wagon Road and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway Thursday afternoon where workers were installing traffic signals and light poles.

Design Project Manager Cynthia Ferguson said drivers have sometimes waited 15 minutes to turn from side streets onto a highway, and the traffic breaks could alleviate that problem.

Quality Asphalt Paving, which was contracted to complete Phase I of DOT’s road improvement projects in the Mat-Su Valley, started the work in 2007. Filucci said improvements to intersections along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway at Wagon Road, Equestrian Street and Hemmer Road are all in progress, as construction crews have paved curbs and the bases for traffic poles. He said the process for those intersections will replicate the process used at Hyer of placing and calibrating the poles and testing the lights.

“We’re happy to see that we’re getting it done,” Filucci said.

Occasional congestion has affected the regular flow of traffic, but Filucci said those slowdowns have not resulted in ill feelings from the public.

“I would say that 99.9 percent of the [drivers] have been courteous and safe,” Filucci said. “I’ve received a lot of calls from people saying, ‘Thank you, we’re happy with the roads.’”

Reduced speed limit signs remain posted along some segments of the highways, and flaggers have been used to regulate traffic.

Filucci said that every road construction project hits snags and hangups, but Phase I of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway improvements are moving along on schedule.

“Every time we’ve pushed back, we’ve pushed out ahead,” Filucci said.

Phase II of the project has not yet come up for bid, Filluci said. The second aspect of the upgrades include four-way traffic signals at Shoreline Drive, Shennum Drive and Midtown Drive/Golden Hills Drive, and a double turn lane at Begich Drive. Also, the DOT has called for five signal upgrades to mount emergency signal transmitters on traffic arms. When emergency services respond to calls, the transmitters will recognize a signal frequency from emergency vehicles and change the traffic lights at the intersection. Ferguson said the goal is to begin the installments and road upgrades by summer’s end.

“We’ve completed the design and we’re in the process of finding additional right of way easements,” Ferguson said, adding that reaching agreements with property owners can create a hitch in the construction process.

Until the work is done, though, the men and women in fluorescent-hued vests will be hard at work.

“I think they’re pretty proud,” Filucci said. “They’ve had a lot of hard detail work to do.”

Contact Derek Casanovas at derek.casanovas@frontiersman.com or 352-2284.