Fed up with four-wheelers

MAT-SU — When their windows rattle at 3 a.m., residents in the Seldon Road Extension area know not to duck and cover.

It’s not an earthquake. It’s not a landslide. It’s not the first salvo of a North Korean missile attack. It’s four-wheelers.

To connect Seldon to Church Road, the road bed needed to be wider. Cutting into the hill created a steep bank on the south side of Seldon. The project was completed in 2007, and the slope was hydro-seeded in 2008 to prevent erosion.

Ryah’s Way intersects with Seldon and cuts through the slope. With two steep slopes facing each other and the slope along Seldon, the area could not have been better designed for high-marking and hill climbing.

Paul Reed moved to the north of Seldon in 2006. He said the four-wheelers started showing up this summer. Now, the slope is scarred with tracks worn in the newly-established grass.

“We call it the amphitheater,” Reed said. “The noise bounces off the hills and shoots into the neighborhood.”

“It’s not just four-wheelers either. In the winter, it’s snowmachines,” said local resident Jesse Carnahan.

Carnahan and Reed said it would be fine if the riders rode through the area to access the hills or Bald Mountain, but they are using the slope as their playground. The machines go up and down repeatedly and at all hours of the night, they said.

Steve Anderson agreed. He said he does not want to ban the riders outright, “but for them to think that this is a place to ride, it’s just nonsense. (...) Try putting your kid to sleep when it’s this hot outside and you have to keep the windows closed because of the noise.”

Carnahan said he confronted a group of snowmachiners who were hill climbing at 3 a.m. on a work day.

“That group listened,” Carnahan said, “but we’ve had the normal story too.”

“Normally, they just flip you off,” Reed explained.

Carnahan said he just moved into his house a year ago, but the problem is so bad he is ready to move. Reed shot back, saying that he has already offered his house for sale.

“I would like to enjoy the peace and quite,” the disabled veteran Reed said. “I’m a recovering cancer patient. I don’t need the stress.”

Reed said he has talked to everyone he could think of, but he has reached nothing but dead ends. The city of Wasilla said they can’t do anything because it’s outside of city limits. The Alaska State Troopers told him it was low on their priority list. By the time they respond to a call, the riders are long gone anyway, Reed said.

“What happens when your little kid is going down the sidewalk when they are blasting through?” Anderson said. “I’m sure they won’t do it on purpose, but accidents happen.”

Mat-Su Borough Manager John Duffy said the conflict of four-wheelers in residential communities is just one more case of the Valley’s growing pains. The density is increasing, and more and more people are bumping into each other.

He said his office hears about 20 complaints each summer about four-wheelers, but there is little the borough can do. It is illegal to drive in the right-a-way, but signs don’t work and the troopers rarely enforce it, he said.

As for what property owner can do, Duffy said individuals do have a right to protect their property interests. However, permits are required to put barricades in public easements, and this opens them up to liability issues.

Unfortunately, this is a lesson Sarah Millay knows too well.

Millay lives south of Seldon on top of the hill. Snowmachiners and four-wheelers used to blast up the hill and right through her back yard. She was forced to build a fence to protect her daughter playing outside.

One day, a group of snowmachiners were riding in the ditch at the base of the hill below her house. The third rider in the line hit a rock and sued her for damages.

Her insurance company said she had to file a claim before they could give her any legal advice. Shortly after filing, the company settled with the snowmachiner because it was cheaper than getting attorneys involved. Millay is waiting to hear if her premiums are going to go up.

When she asked what she can to do prevent future claims, the insurance company told her she would have to keep the ditch clear of rocks. Even though it is not her property, plaintiffs can say the rocks fell from her yard.

“The rocks fall there because the hill gets torn up by the four-wheelers, and now I have to pick them up?” Millay said. “Some of them are watermelon size. I can’t lift that.”

Duffy said beside the money it is costing the local homeowners, tax payers have to foot the bill from the damages caused by four-wheelers. All around the borough, hydro-seeding has gone to waste, and road beds have been eroded to the point where streets crack and need repaving.

Other than the monetary issues, there are safety concerns as well, Duffy said. Four-wheelers create traffic hazards and compete with bicyclists and pedestrians. Children on four-wheelers passing cars on the highway is clearly a concern, he said.

“I think at some point in time we are going to have to change our current message of addressing this on a case by case basis,” Duffy said. “We’re going to need something more comprehensive and regular.”

As for now, Duffy said representatives from the borough, troopers and state Department of Transportation are meeting with residents of the Seldon Road Extension area to brainstorm solutions.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.