Assembly OKs plan to build 4-lane to Houston

PALMER — On Tuesday, the borough expressed its support — with a few key conditions — for the construction of a four-lane highway from Wasilla to Houston.

The Parks Highway along that stretch is currently two lanes. The borough has called for an expansion to four lanes but said it supports a divided highway with limited access — i.e. no driveways or business access — with side roads along its length.

Assemblyman Tom Kluberton said he co-sponsored the legislation mainly because a lot of road projects seem to be designed based on available funding to complete the project. That often leads to piecemeal changes, little fixes here and there, he said. But the Parks Highway needs more work than a piecemeal approach could provide.

“To just put and do a poor job of repairing or upgrading that road, reconstructing it if you will . . . isn’t going to solve the problem,” Kluberton said.

Assemblywoman Cindy Bettine, the measure’s co-sponsor, said she felt the resolution put in clear terms what the borough was seeking.

“This, to me, is a statement that just says we need to start asking correctly for the needs of our borough,” Bettine said.

Assemblyman Rob ells, though he eventually voted for the resolution, expressed some reservations. The road, he said, was built wrong the first time. He pointed to the Parks Highway through Eagle River as the right way to go about highway construction.

“That’s my main concern with passing this is we’re basically conceding that it’ll never be done right,” Wells said.

At least one audience member opposed the resolution entirely — Houston Mayor Roger Purcell.

“It’s a bad design, it’s a bad road,” Purcell said. “The city of Houston is planning on filing suit against the state of Alaska to stop this project.”

He said a divided highway would not allow ambulances to make left turns onto the highway and would stifle businesses currently located on the highway.

He said the state doesn’t have money to put in side roads and that by the time it did the businesses will all have disappeared.

Whatever the case, the project seems to be a long way off. Talk around the assembly table seemed to indicate the state lacked funding even to buy rights-of-way for such a large road.

“It’s just a general resolution saying, ‘C’mon,’” said Assemblywoman Lynne Woods. “Whatever they’re going to do they need to get on the stick.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.