Dreams and nightmares; it must be construction season again

Frontiersman editorial board

As construction crews amp up their efforts to get projects finished on deadline and during good weather, Valley residents are often faced with the blessed -- and cursed -- daily changes on heavily traveled roads.

Frontiersman staff have not been immune to those changes. Within just a few hours of each other, staff members of the Frontiersman were enjoying and fuming at ongoing construction in the Valley.

Heading to Wasilla Sunday, one Frontiersman staffer got a chance to admire the Alaska wildlife scenes adorning what will be an on-ramp to the Parks Highway from Palmer. The metal sculptures of bear, moose trees and waterfowl make the otherwise dismal concrete wall look inviting -- although placing the pieces in a shielded location, more so than several other intersections where art has been incorporated, does raise concerns about whether the work is durable enough to deter theft and stand up to vandals.

To another Frontiersman staffer's great delight, late Sunday night, portions of the Parks and Glenn highways interchange -- the big project Valley residents have been residing with for more than a year -- were opened, allowing drivers to float over the bridge, taking in the wide-open road.

The road over the bridge was reportedly "smooth as silk" and the ability to move effortlessly from the Glenn Highway to the Parks Highway was a tremendous relief -- perhaps made more so by recent increases in congestion at the traffic light down below the bridge.

A few miles down the road, however, residents and a few Frontiersman staff are cursing the day bulldozers visited their neighborhoods.

For one Frontiersman staff member, heading to work on Knik-Goose Bay Road meant an unexpected hour-long wait in road construction. To be fair, that wait was doubled due to a stop midway, but somehow rationalizing the wait doesn't quite make up for time spent waiting for the go-ahead to follow a pilot car.

And in the blue fog of exhaust and frustration, the ticking of the clock can easily drown out any thoughts of how beneficial the new road will be.

Kudos to the crews associated with both jobs for their diligence. We're thankful the drive to Anchorage will soon be much easier for many residents, and we look forward to having a wider, safer Knik-Goose Bay Road. In the meantime, please keep both eyes on the road and a foot on the brake through road-construction zones -- people's lives are at stake.