Bridge would open up rich ag land

MAT-SU -- There's land in the Valley that makes the eyes of farmers gleam -- thousands of acres of deep, rich, well-drained soil that nearly begs to be planted.

"It has probably the best soils in the whole borough," Community Development Director Ron Swanson said.

The problem is, it's land without access to any nearby roads -- for now. The Mat-Su Borough Assembly, at its Nov. 4 meeting, approved a more-than-$2 million grant that will identify potential locations and study the feasibility for a bridge across the Little Susitna River, as well as engineer its design, study environmental factors and put together a cost estimate and permitting for both a road to the bridge and the actual bridge.

According to information accompanying the ordinance adopted by the assembly, two locations have been identified as possible sources -- one that would extend the Susitna Parkway across the Little Susitna River. The second proposed location is near the existing Little Susitna River access at the end of Aryshire Road.

The bridge, like many projects in the Mat-Su, has been discussed for years. It's part of the borough's 1984 Fish Creek management plan, in which a location for the bridge was identified. Borough Manager John Duffy said the project was on the borough's federal funding priority list, with good reason.

"It's good farmland," Duffy told the assembly. "The sale of borough property is the intent of the project."

Swanson said the land that would be accessed by the bridge offers good opportunities, not only for agricultural land, but also for timber harvesting, as well as prime recreational and real estate development.

The $2.3 million that will pay for the study is coming from the federal government, through the Alaska Department of Transportation, but Swanson said other state agencies helped to get the funds.

"The bridge was a project we wholly encouraged the state Department of Natural Resources, through the Division of Agriculture, to pursue," Swanson said.

It may seem a stretch for the Division of Agriculture to get involved in road-building projects, but the quality of soil in the area, as well as other potential uses of the land, make a road a sensible project. The road and bridge would provide access to mostly borough and state-owned land -- about 45,000 acres of land in total. The borough land, Swanson said, has not been previously offered -- or requested for sale.

"Anybody can nominate them, at any time," Swanson said. "They have not been nominated yet."

In preparation for the eventual opening of access to the publicly held land, Swanson said his staff has started the process to nominate the land and, eventually, put it up for public sale. With the bridge project under way, he said, he's expecting speculators to begin asking about the land soon.

Mat-Su Borough Public Works Director Don Shiesl said the request for proposals will be sent out soon. He estimated the study would be done next year. Swanson estimated the bridge project, if funding was available, could be built within seven years. Assembly member and local farmer Bruce Bush said the idea was overdue.

"It's about time!" Bush said. "This is great news for us people who've been waiting for more farm land to open up."