In Palmer, it’s one way or the highway

PALMER — The road to the city’s future is one-way.

Palmer City Council has given the green light to a resolution that aims to relive congestion on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway and Evergreen Avenue by the year 2025. The council considered four options and ultimately chose Alternative 3 — a one-way couplet. The proposed one-way design is part of the Palmer Urban Traffic Study, which is getting underway.

“The concept is that it would extend Dogwood Avenue to Hemmer Road then turn back to the Palmer-Wasilla Highway,” said Tom Healy, Palmer city manager.

Dogwood would be rerouted as a one-way street for westbound travel and complement the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, said Mark Parmelee, an area planner for the Alaska Department of Transportation. West Evergreen Avenue would also become one-way, creating the couplet and providing an alternative eastbound traffic flow.

“When you have a two-way street, traffic is always stopping or slowing down to let cars turn,” Parmelee said. Not only will traffic stay moving on a one-way road, but vehicles from side streets will have a better chance of merging because they won’t have to cross oncoming traffic.

Although the study focuses on what traffic will be like around 2025, Parmelee is glad to get a head start on the project.

“We’re seeing that the traffic is going to double in the next 20 to 25 years,” he said. “And we need to address that.”

Helping to unclog the area’s major roadways is Arnold Harder, consultant project manager for Kinney Engineering.

“There is no question that Alternative 3 provides the best service to vehicles,” Harder said. “Traffic will be able to move from place to place with less delays.”

Delays are not the only issue the study will address, he said.

“It will be safer for pedestrians because they only have to worry about traffic coming from one direction,” Harder said. “It’s friendly for bicyclists and pedestrians.”

Another positive point of using one-way couplets is that they are easy to maintain, Harder said. When crews plow snow off the road they won’t have to deal with medians, which will save time and money.

Although there are a lot of good reasons why the project should be implemented, Harder admits there are some negative points. Near Hemmer Road, the proposed extension would cross some private parcels, some developed and some undeveloped.

“There’s always individuals that will be better served by other alternatives,” he said.

Although the process has shifted into first gear, there is still time for the public to voice any ideas or concerns about the project, Harder said.

Contact Chris Gillow at 352-2284 or chris.gillow@frontiersman.com.