DOT officials give area transportation update

WASILLA — The Mat-Su’s continued growth means that the transportation projects in the works and on the books are going to be vital to the area’s population, and every funding dollar counts, a pair of Department of Transportation officials told the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday.

Dave Kemp, the DOT’s central region director and Dave Post, a central region planning manager, talked current projects, reduced state budgets and long-range transportation goals at the weekly chamber luncheon at The Grill Restaurant inside the Grand View Inn and Suites.

Kemp said the tightening of state budgets has resulted in a “flattening” of job descriptions, which has combined his duties as central region director with that of the public facilities director as well.

“Like all departments, we are trying to do more with less,” he said, “and with reductions of 15 to 20 percent, cuts mean people, and that’s a tough thing to see.”

Plans to scale back projects also have had to be made, both men pointed out. One project in particular has been the widening of the heavily-traveled Knik-Goose Bay Road, a traffic safety corridor which serves one of the fastest-growing areas in the state. That effort is actually two separate projects, Post said: a federally-funded piece that runs from Vine Road north to Centaur Avenue in Wasilla and the other, a primarily state-funded portion that runs from Vine south to Settlers Bay Drive.

“That federal project is still on track,” Post said, “and we are trying to find a way to maybe get some federal funds moved to that smaller portion from Vine to Setters Bay.”

Kemp said the while Southeast Alaska has its share of projects on the books, the central region is the fastest growing in the state, and the Mat-Su tops that growth, with the borough recently exceeding 100,000 in population.

“There’s a lot going on out here,” Kemp said.

He said the DOT has been efficient in recent years in receiving federal highway redistribution funding, which meant projects were ready to go when the funding became available.

“Because we have been ready to go with some of these projects, we have been able to pick up money other federal agencies have left — money that would have been picked up by another state if we weren’t ready,” he said.

Kemp gave a slideshow update on some of the ongoing summer projects, noting that the $42 million Parks Highway widening between Church and Pittman roads was around 50 percent complete, while the $16 million resurfacing project on the Glenn/Parks highway interchange and between Mile 35-40 of the Parks was around 80 percent finished.

Kemp added that the interchange off-ramps won’t be closed during the state fair.

“We spoke with the contractor on that... and we do try to plan ahead on these things.” Kemp said.

Kemp said upcoming projects include a $10.7 million Glenn Highway resurfacing project from Hiland Road to Eklutna in September and an anticipated $4- to 8-million Fairview Loop realignment project in 2017.

“I am almost needing briefings on the briefings with Fairview Loop,” Kemp said. “That’s is going to be a complex project.”

Post said planners try to anticipate where the population growth is going to settle several years out, adding that in the next 35 years, the Mat-Su will still be one of the fastest-growing areas.

“The Mat-Su is expected to have half of what the expected growth in the state is going to be in the next 35 years,” Post said. “And our investment decisions are going to reflect where that growth is.”

He said in recent years for the Mat-Su Borough, the reduction in state funding through the drop in oil revenue has been somewhat offset by an increase in federal gas taxes.

“It’s an interesting dichotomy,” Post said. He added that the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and Knik-Goose Bay Road were included in the congressional expansion of the National Highway System, which means an increased potential for federal funding.

Looking ahead, Post said the region’s population growth will probably result in the core area of the borough being designated a “metropolitan planning organization,” which will probably occur after the next census.

“So we are trying to apply some of those principals for when the borough becomes an MPO,” Post said. “It really opens up planning between the borough and the cities for multi-modal types of systems like transit and other avenues.”