Alternative route is overdue

The Knik Bridge has been an idea since 1958. Even then, visionaries knew it would be an economic driver and provide jobs for Alaskans. A common thought today is that it will only be a convenience for commuters from the Valley to Anchorage.

It is not being built for one segment of the population for one purpose. The bridge with rail much larger implications for the state of Alaska. I live near downtown Wasilla, which is almost 35 miles to the proposed toll bridge. I may or may not use the bridge when it is built, but an alternative route is long overdue.

The Mat-Su Valley has a population of 90,000. There is only one road to the Anchorage airport. Most don’t realize there are six (yes, six) rivers and streams to cross between Anchorage and the Valley. If one good shaker knocks out even one bridge, we are stranded on one side or the other.

Port MacKenzie is accessed via Knik-Goose Bay Road. The Knik-Fairview area along Knik-Goose Bay Road is the fastest growing community in the state. There is a population of more than 13,000 people in that area of the Valley alone.

Two major projects are under way that also will impact Knik-Goose Bay Road; the Goose Bay Correctional Center accessed via KGB Road at one end and the Southcentral medical facility on the other end. Each of these will be opened in the very near future, adding an additional 1,000 cars per day on KGB Road. Fortunately, there are construction plans under way for improvement to the road, but that doesn’t diminish the numbers traveling on the Parks or Glenn highways.

Year-round each day many freight trains travel through Wasilla with 40 to 80 cars. Although we appreciate them knowing instinctively that a moving train is a productive train, each of these trains cause traffic to stop until they move up the track. Every bit of freight that goes north to Fairbanks and the North Slope that is not carried by train or plane travels by truck on the Parks Highway. There is a tremendous amount of tonnage being moved through the Valley communities. Again, thankfully, freight moving means the economy is moving and providing jobs.

Shipments of coal from Healy could be shortened by 300 miles round-trip by going to Port MacKenzie instead of Seward. Fuel transports from Flint Hills to the Anchorage Port could be shortened by 100 round-trip miles, and reduced mileage means decreased costs.

The bridge/rail will open opportunities for our northern neighbors by decreasing their shipping expenses, increasing commerce and jobs for Alaska while taking the pressure off the roads of Southcentral communities.

Anchorage dwellers may think Lake Otis and Tudor roads are the worst intersections to drive. I invite you to come to Wasilla at 5 p.m., daily, or on a sunny weekend when the fish are running, or the snow is just right for a snowmachine in the wilderness. The traffic is nonstop and almost impossible to maneuver.

No, you don’t want your neighborhood to be changed, no one does. I lived in Anchorage for many years on a dead-end street. It was a perfect place to raise kids. One day the road was pushed through and six eight-plexes were built. Did that impact the neighborhood? You bet it did! It added 30 to 50 more cars driving through at least twice daily and a huge enrollment increase in our local elementary school. Progress means we have to make paradigm shifts in our lives. The bridge/rail is a plan for the community as a whole — the state of Alaska. Think big for the good of all.

Linda Myers-Steele lives in Wasilla.