Bogard stalled

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Planning Commission has decided on a preferred route for the Bogard Road extension project — none of the above.

“This is simply asking [staff] to go back to the planning table with a few more considerations,” commissioner Ken Klunder said.

The commission had been asked to decide between a number of options for extending Bogard Road to provide another east-west thoroughfare between Wasilla and Palmer. One route, referred to as the “red” route, had the road running from 49th State Street to the Glenn Highway in nearly a straight shot. A second alternative, the “yellow” route, traveled a more northerly path.

A third route, dubbed the “blue” option, was presented at Wednesday’s planning commission meeting. Similar to the yellow route, it follows a northerly path but takes into account some comments area residents had regarding impacts to homes and farmlands, said Brad Swortz, transportation and environmental manager for the Borough’s planning division.

All three routes spit traffic out onto the Glenn Highway at Arctic Avenue as an attempt to provide an alternative for traffic that congests the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. Swortz said that even when plans go through to expand that highway into four lanes, it will be running at double its capacity.

The commission’s recommendation that the Borough go back to the drawing board is just that — a recommendation. The Borough assembly will have the final say at a special meeting March 6.

The Borough has $12.5 million in state Department of Transportation money to spend on the Bogard project, Swortz said. If a route is selected, it plans to use the money to buy land needed for the road’s right of way. The Borough estimates $12.5 million will be enough.

The process of choosing a route has been lengthy and contentious. Wednesday’s meeting drew a full house. Swortz said that previous public meetings drew hundreds of attendees. Some audience members Wednesday wore stickers on their shirts saying, “No red.”

Klunder drafted the resolution that the commission eventually voted to send to the assembly. He said he’d conducted research to examine processes other cities have used and thought it would be best if the Borough starts again with a clean slate, asking residents how they would deal with congestion on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

Commissioner Mark Masteller proposed an alternative in which the Borough looks at improving existing roads and considers public transportation options. Those recommendations were also part of Klunder’s resolution.

In a question-and-answer document on the project’s Web site, bogardroad.com, DOWL Engineers, the firm tasked with the project, addresses why it can’t use existing roads.

“Without traffic relief, in the next 20 years traffic numbers are expected to more than double on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and Palmer-Fishhook Road,” DOWL says in a report to the Borough. “Upgrading the existing roads will not provide sufficient capacity to keep up with the projected traffic demand.”

“To look at this project and say we can use existing roads … just doesn’t cut it for me,” commissioner William Bruu said.

Bruu was the only commissioner to vote in favor of the red route. Bruu and commissioner Mark Ewing were the only two commissioners to vote for the blue route. Ewing, who eventually voted against Klunder’s resolution, said the project is one at which the state is looking carefully to test if the Borough can handle its own road projects. He said something has to be done about traffic congestion.

“Public transit; I’m all for it,” Ewing said. “But can you serve the needs of where everybody has to be in Palmer and Wasilla?”

Ewing also noted that the commissioners’ decision was not final.

“If we forward no route to the Borough, they’re going to come back and slap us with the red route,” he said.

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