Extension route gets nod

Borough advisory board recommends Bogard to Glenn via Arctic

December 20, 2005

DARRELL L. BREESE\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - One week after the Mat-Su Borough Assembly made seeking funding for roads its top legislative priority for 2006, the borough transportation advisory board drafted an itemized list and made recommendations for immediate action on two pressing projects.

Under the direction of Chairman George Williams, the board reviewed more than 50 road and highway projects, but spent the most time discussing the need for a new traffic light on the Parks Highway at the intersection of Vine Road and the proposed extension of Bogard Road east to the Glenn Highway.

Williams said he had a discussion with Borough Manager John Duffy earlier in the week about two possible routes being considered for Bogard to punch through and connect with the Glenn.

One would punch the new road through to the Glenn by connecting to Scott Road.

The second option, which the board recommends, would connect the extension to Arctic Avenue and in turn with the Old Glenn Highway.

The board agreed that upgrades to the Palmer-Wasilla Highway should remain as the top priority for state-funded road projects. It also agreed to add the Bogard extension to the second position on the list.

&#8220The Palmer-Wasilla High-way has been our biggest need for six years,” board member Dan Kelly said. &#8220If that is number one, then the Bogard extension should clearly be number two on the list.”

Allan Linn, vice chair of the board, took the discussion one step further, calling for a resolution that would recommend where Bogard should intersect the Glenn Highway.

&#8220It has been the position of this body for years that if Bogard is extended that it should go through at Arctic Avenue,” Linn said. &#8220We need to draft a resolution for consideration at our next meeting (Jan. 11, 2006) that will indicate as much.”

Linn went on to say that the Arctic route would not create another light along the Glenn Highway and would also provide a connection with the Old Glenn Highway.

That resolution, if approved, might carry a lot of weight.

&#8220Duffy told me that whatever route we recommend would be the preferred route for Bogard,” Williams said.

The board also added the installation of a traffic signal at Vine Road to the list of transportation safety projects needed throughout the borough. The list of safety needs also includes a pedestrian crossing on Bogard Road near Wasilla High and Middle schools, school zone caution lights throughout the borough and traffic signal lights on Nelson and Lucille in Wasilla.

&#8220This is definitely a serious need,” Kelly said. &#8220If we don't think this is a serious safety concern then put it at the bottom of the list and we will never see it happen.”

The board agreed with Kelly as to the seriousness of the need for the traffic signal and it was placed near the top of the list, among school-related needs.

Few changes were made to the rest of the priority lists.

&#8220I think we are tilting at windmills if we change the order of the federal projects too much,” Linn said. &#8220We run the risk of losing funding for projects that are already in the works.”

The board did adjust the national list to reflect the near completion of the Parks Highway-Glenn Highway interchange and the Parks Highway improvements from Seward Meridian to Crusey Street.

Still on the national list are improvements to the Parks from Crusey to Lucus Road and from Lucus Road to Big Lake. Also on the list are enhancements to the Glenn Highway from the Parks intersection to Mile 84.

A complete listing of the road projects and the priority order in which the board ranked them is available at the borough's planning department office in Palmer.

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or darrell.breese@

frontiersman.com.