Mat-Su Borough manages multiple road projects

PALMER — With all the road projects the Mat-Su borough is engaged in, it can be hard to keep everything straight. That’s probably why borough staff provide regular updates to the borough assembly.

Assemblyman Jim Colver said that he and the assembly would like to see project timelines sped up. He said he wants to see a way to shorten the typical eight weeks lag from the time when bid documents are finalized to when a winning bidder is awarded a construction contract.

He said the assembly is willing to do its part to approve projects as soon as possible.

“We will hold special meetings to get projects on the street because that’s jobs for our constituents,” Colver said.

Mat-Su Borough Manager John Moosey said the change would be a welcome one.

He noted that sometimes there’s a delay because, to get the process rolling, the borough needs start-up money, which often doesn’t come until state money for a project arrives at the borough.

As for specific projects, Mike Brown, who is in charge of capital projects for the borough, said the project to build South Trunk Road is going forward in stages. One of those could go out to bid at the end of the year, the other after that. That project is relatively complex, involving multiple bridges for which the borough is still looking for state funding. One of the bridges could be in and of itself a two-construction-season effort.

Other projects are on a quicker timeline:

• Machen Road is scheduled for Feb. 17.

• The Bogard Road Extension, Seldon Road Extension and Vine Road upgrades are planned for March bidding.

• Bids will open in April for the Sullivan Avenue and Caudill Road project, as well as the first phase of the Seldon Road and Lucille Street project.

• Clapp Street and Mack Drive is slated for May bidding.

• The pathway along the Old Glenn Highway is scheduled for bid June.

Projects that have been designed and are in the construction phase already include pathways in Sutton, upgrades to Caswell Lakes Road, upgrades to Willow Lake Drive, upgrades to Hawk Road, a realignment for South Big Lake Road and an upgrade of Knik River Road.

Colver said that as projects progress, he would like to see evaluations of the borough’s contractors.

“I think what we’re looking for is a report card, evaluate the performance of these design consultants,” he said. “That way we’re kind of promoting the best possible work on our projects.”

Brown said the borough is looking at setting up a process for that.

“One of the things that we’ll bring before you in the budget cycle is setting up a framework to audit,” he said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270

or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.