Funding for roads doesn't include Mat-Su

July 1, 2007

By Hannah Guillaume / Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Travelers on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway won't see requested funding for safety improvements through state or federal dollars.

Instead, they fear money needed for the Valley is traveling down the road to nowhere.

The Juneau region received $104 million in federal funding for the construction of Lynn Canal Road, which will connect the Capitol to Skagway with federal funding through the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program. The project was approved Thursday by the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration with a 25 percent reduction in requested funding.

That money isn't the only funding Valley residents who drive the Palmer-Wasilla Highway won't be seeing. On Friday, Gov. Sarah Palin, a former Wasilla Mayor, vetoed $5 million of a $20 million request for safety improvements for the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.

According to Palin's comments in the approved federal Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, roads that did not make it into the program aren't included because of lacking funds.

Palmer City Manager Thomas Healy said he requested federal and state funding for safety upgrades on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. He wasn't shocked to hear that new roads are being built while existing ones deteriorate.

&#8220That's how the money goes,” he said. &#8220My view is that we're not taking care of the more immediate needs of the state - that's improving existing roads. Anyone who has experience on the highway here knows there is a drastic need for improvements.”

From 1977 to 2005, 25 motor vehicle accident fatalities occurred on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, according to the Alaska Department of Transportation.

Healy believes the east end of the highway needs the most help. Budget cuts and resulting road construction delays have negative results that for some unknown reason that state hasn't developed the ability to address, he said.

&#8220As a result there's Increased congestion and accidents,” he said. &#8220The increase in traffic is not slowing down and the basic facilities are not being improved. It is a real dilemma. It's an unfortunate trend.”

Leo von Scheben, commissioner of Alaska's Department of Transportation appointed by Palin, noted that absent an increase in taxes the decrease in federal funding for roads will continue, according to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.

Jennifer Witt, a planning manager for the central region of the Alaska Department of Transportation, said that despite state funding cuts and projects left out of federal funding, drivers on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway will still see some improvements. Federal funding could push back any work for safety improvements on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway by as much as three years.

&#8220State funds alone are positive in terms of time,” she said. &#8220Even though there's a reduction from the $20 million to $15 million we should still be able to achieve some substantial improvements along the corridor.”

Safety improvement construction is scheduled to begin this year, and drivers will begin to see additional traffic signals at locations including Hyer, Hemmer and Wagon roads and Equestrian Street on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, she said. Those lights will create safety gaps for turning vehicles.

Lois Epstein, engineer and director of the nonprofit Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, said the population growth in the Mat-Su Valley should set roadway priorities and she doesn't understand how a road from Juneau to Skagway received approval in the final planning.

&#8220We need to plan for what is coming in the very near future,” she said. &#8220It means it's going to be many, many years of congestion and frustration for residents, and it doesn't have to happen.”

Contact Hannah Guillaume at 352-2284 or hannahguillaume@yahoo.com.