Get used to the roads already in use

A year or so ago some Anchorage folks suggested putting up a toll booth at the Knik River Bridge so Valley commuters who used Anchorage streets would have to help pay for them.

Shortly thereafter some Valley folks agreed, reminding the Anchorage people the toll could work both ways.

Not much more was heard about the booth.

While it is true that many of us rely on Anchorage for better-paying jobs, and to a degree, slightly cheaper gas and Costco. There’s not much else in the way of necessities that would be cause to drive to town.

On the other hand, people in Anchorage rely on the Valley for hunting, fishing, recreation of all sorts and clean air to breathe. Depending on the season, most Friday nights or Saturday mornings there’s a stream of pickups and motorhomes heading north towing boats, four-wheelers and snowmachines.

Once they cross the Knik River they begin tearing up our roads and scenery. Traffic gets more congested.

So when road improvements are made here, they’re not just for Mat-Su Borough residents.

For all that, the Legislature hands the borough $10 million for Trunk Road and portions of the Glenn and Parks highways.

What’s worse is the fact that the people of this borough voted to pay 30 percent of the cost of building or updating roads that those campers and hunters use for their leisure and businesses for commerce.

The state sends the borough not one dime for roads we’ve agreed to help pay so we can get to work or pick up the children from school.

Everybody has to tighten their belts these days, but for some reason the growth in the Valley isn’t slowing, in part by people who can buy a much nicer home with some land here that they couldn’t touch in Anchorage. They are helping to make the Valley a more crowded place requiring more and better roads.

After taking a step back to look for a reason roads in the fastest-growing portion of the state were virtually ignored, one could come to a reasonable conclusion.

This fiscal snub has the odor of payback. Maybe Valley residents, Sarah Palin among them, are paying the price for recent spats between the people on the second and third floors of the Capital.