DOT A-OK with KGB

WASILLA — Though construction is five years out, the folks in charge of widening Knik-Goose Bay Road want to hear from you.

“We are anxious to talk to people. We want to hear their concerns and we want to fix KGB road and get ’r done quick, as quickly as possible,” said Gerry Walsh, the state Department of Transportation project manager for the expansion.

The plan, outlined in as much detail as is currently available at such an initial stage on the project’s website — knikgoosebayroad.com — calls for an expanded road from Centaur Avenue just south of downtown Wasilla to Vine Road.

Some sections of the expansion would be six lanes, some four. Both configurations include a center divider with adjacent bike paths.

Knik-Goose Bay Road has long been among the five most dangerous roadways in the state. Other roads on that list include the Parks Highway from Wasilla to Big Lake and the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. All three have projects in the works.

The Parks Highway is set for an expansion to four lanes and the Mat-Su Borough hopes that pushing Bogard Road through to the Glenn Highway will alleviate congestion on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. The Parks project is set for an infusion of cash in the first draft of the 2014 state budget. The Bogard project received funding in last year’s state bond package.

Assuming growth continues in the Valley at its current pace — a reasonable assumption, Walsh said — those new lanes on Knik-Goose Bay Road should be able to accommodate traffic right up until the road would be rebuilt again, 20 years after the current project is finished.

That would be 2039.

“I don’t expect to be able to break ground any sooner than 2017,” Walsh said.

Which means the project would probably be finished by 2019. It’ll probably be broken up into phases, but could conceivably go in one chunk.

“When you have federal money involved in a project there’s a very strict process we have to follow,” Walsh said. “We’ll work as fast as we can but we are just now getting into public and agency scoping.”

And while they’ve done some preliminary design work, federal rules dictate that a project can’t start designing in earnest until it has gotten the necessary environmental document approval.

Project timelines predict that document will be in hand by mid-2014. At any rate, Walsh urged folks to get in touch with the project team through the website or watch for future meeting dates as they are scheduled.

The project already had one open house Dec. 6. The sign in sheet logged 86 attendees. Walsh said he sent out 2,700 postcards advertising the event. He said he plans another open house near the start of the New Year.

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