It’s past time we target dangerous intersections

As growth continues to congest the Valley’s transportation arteries, it becomes more and more difficult to avoid overly dangerous intersections.

It’s a problem that’s been building to a head, which — for at least one Mat-Su Borough assemblyman — came this past week. When Jim Colver witnessed yet another accident at the intersection of Lucille Street and Seldon Road in Wasilla, he decided to do something about it.

“That’s a very dangerous intersection with a high accident rate. People are getting hurt, and we can’t ignore that any longer,” he said in response to the Nov. 29 accident.

In the decade between 1999 and 2008, the state Department of Transportation reports 59 accidents at that intersection alone, a statistic Colver says can’t continue. He proposes the state help fund a $1.5 million safety upgrade for the intersection. He enlisted the borough’s manager of transportation, Brad Sworts, to draft a memorandum outlining a need for action.

We’re pleased to help Cover and Sworts back-seat drive this proposal.

As Valley motorists continue to do a bang-up job of banging up their vehicles, the borough needs to be aggressive in addressing dangerous intersections and roadways. As the state continues to erect what’s becoming a nearly endless line of stoplights along the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, it’s a Band-Aid measure that does little to alleviate the real problem — the sheer volume of vehicles on our main roads. Like putting speed bumps in a parking lot, they’re effective only to a point.

Colver and Sworts have this pegged right. We know it’s unrealistic to think the borough and/or state have the funds or ability to magically fix every trouble spot on our Valley roads. What we can do, however, is take the sniper approach — pick them off one at a time.

In the crosshairs now, it’s open season on Lucille and Seldon.

“Improvements to the Lucille Street-Seldon Road intersection have long been needed,” Sworts says in his memo. He goes on to outline a plan to lower the hill on Lucille that impairs the sight of drivers and make it a four-way stop. It’s a busy intersection that’s on the main route for many school buses. When conditions are icy, the combination of poor road conditions and an inability to see oncoming traffic are a recipe for disaster.

At $1.5 million, this project seems like a bargain that will hopefully serve as the green light the Valley needs to target these dangerous intersections.