Make it home alive

Over the past several decades, the Valley’s population has doubled and tripled. Nearly every year we see big new stores and housing subdivisons added.

But not new roads. And even when road bonds appear on the local ballot, the Valley tends to vote against the investment of its tax dollars in local infrastructure.

Already, two of the four Traffic Safety Corridors in the state are in the Mat-Su Borough: Knik-Goose Bay Road from Mile .6 to Mile 17.2 and Parks Highway from Mile 44.5 to Mile 53.

Since 1996, 22 people have died in vehicle accidents on this stretch of the Parks Highway. And on KGB, 38 people died in vehicle accidents from 1977 through 2009.

These Traffic Safety Corridors also travel through two of the fastest growing areas of the Mat-Su Borough — the Meadow Lakes and Fairview Loop areas.

And each new home means at least one or two more cars on Valley roads.

The bulk of Valley residents also commute to jobs located outside of the Mat-Su Borough, more than 40 percent, according to the Department of Labor.

So after spending three hours — or more — commuting to work, we just want to get home as quickly as possible to continue our day.

And by the time we make it to the city limits of Wasilla or Palmer or Houston, we’re generally feeling a lot less friendly than when we started driving home.

Maybe that means we slide through a stop light or a stop sign. Or, maybe we follow too close, drive agressively, forget to signal, fail to watch for moose, drive too fast for road conditions, weave in and out of traffic, or just fail to dim our headlights when meeting another vehicle.

All it takes is one mistake behind the wheel to change your life forever. All it takes is one mistake to turn your vehicle into a killing machine.

According to records from the Department of Transportation and Public Safety, the Traffic Safety Corridors with speed limits of 55 mph and double traffic fines have reduced the number of people killed on these Valley roads.

Take the Parks Highway corridor; it averaged five fatal crashes a year from 1996 to 2006. But since enforcement was increasd and fines were doubled, fatalities have decreased to about two a year.

Even more dangerous is the first 8.3 miles of Knik-Goose Bay Road, which has seen 83 percent of the corridor’s fatal crashes and 79 percent of its major injury accidents since 1977. And this is the same road to which the Knik Arm Bridge would deliver drivers when, or if, it is built.

It’s overly optimistic — even for us — to think that we can cure Valley drivers’ bad habits by writing editorials, but we think reminding our neighbors to drive friendly may help more of them make it home safely.

Our best advice: Operate your vehicle with the same — or greater — respect and courtesy that you use when operating a shopping cart.

Getting home fast doesn’t matter at all compared to making it home alive.