Long road ahead

Planners mapping out transportation needs

April 3, 2007

By Russell Stigall/Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Mat-Su Borough planning commissioners looked down the road a bit as they considered recommending the borough's new long-range transportation plan Monday night.

The plan assesses how the borough's growth will affect transportation needs over the next 20 years.

&#8220The key thing to understand here is that at the outset of this planning work, the borough staff, Alaska Department of Transportation and cities of Palmer, Wasilla and Houston identified certain improvements that needed to get done in the next 20 years,” said Tom Brigham, from HDR Alaska, which is consulting borough staff on the project.

Borough staff labeled these must-do projects &#8220base level improvements.” They include expanding to four lanes the Parks Highway and Knik Goose-Bay Road, and extending Bogard and Seldon roads.

The plan was prepared for the borough by HDR Alaska.

The project got its start when the borough sought a grant from the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. The DOT funds were matched by the borough and supplemented by the Alaska Railroad Corporation.

Early in the process the consultant added to the plan information provided by the Knik Arm Crossing project's traffic model for Anchorage. The model assessed the impact of the Knik Arm bridge on Valley traffic.

According to a borough memorandum, over the last two and a half years &#8220numerous public meetings with community councils, boards,

cities and agencies have taken place.”

The plan covers how to get drivers and goods from place to place, how to make money and how to improve quality of life. Planners said they want to ensure quick transit on all arterial highways. They want to make the borough's roads safer, promote alternative transportation and preserve green infrastructure.

Recommendations for public transit to Anchorage show up in the plan. It even suggests Valley transit be subsidized to make daily rail or bus service to Anchorage cost between $2 and $3 for a round trip.

It gave no solution to the group of Mat-Su commuters, studied by the railroad, who required of their transit system &#8220flexibility in departure times, short travel times and punctuality as desirable,” according to the Southcentral Rail Network Commuter Study and Operation Plan.

A quick look at the document's table of contents shows the breadth of the long-range plan.

The plan projects future population and employment, corridor preservation, pathways, controlled airspace and reserved airspace, Wasilla area alternate rail routes and Port MacKenzie's ferry.

Contact Russell Stigall at

352-2267 or russell.stigall@ frontiersman.com