Mat-Su legislators should find way to seize roads opportunity

Frontiersman editorial board

Gov. Frank Murkowski stood in a Department of Transportation maintenance shed Tuesday to announce his proposed community transportation package. The projects on the package, some in the Mat-Su, are likely to be bogged down in the federal Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, the governor said, and he believes it's in Alaska's interest to expedite these improvements.

Several government representatives were present, including Wasilla Mayor Dianne M. Keller, state Rep. Carl Gatto and state Sen. Charlie Huggins. Each had an opportunity to speak following the governor's announcement, and the varying tones of their comments may signal a future of smooth pavement mixed with stretches of potholes for the governor's plan.

Huggins said it is an exciting time to be chairman of Senate Transportation Committee. "The future in Alaska holds bright things," Huggins said, "Whether it be tourism, whether it be kids riding buses or trucks hauling trusses."

He was most excited about potential enhancements in accessibility to Port MacKenzie, which Huggins said will be a major factor in the construction of a gas pipeline. Later, however, Huggins sounded a word of caution about the funding of these projects.

The governor proposes funding the projects from a portion of the permanent fund that does not contribute to dividends.

Huggins said most of the legislators he knows are very sensitive to any kind of spending from the permanent fund, whether it affects dividends or not. At the announcement, Gatto mentioned several projects that didn't appear on the governor's map, and said they were important, too. Gatto later raised questions about whether he could support some of the rural projects proposed by the governor, and also whether a widening of the Palmer/Wasilla Highway was prudent.

Gatto said he'd be willing to compromise in order to secure important improvements for the Valley, however. Alaska is the only state that does not have a state-funded roads program. The projects proposed for the Mat-Su are important now and will become critical soon.

We hope our legislators will find a way to fund these important projects -- if not through the permanent fund, then in some other way. This is an opportunity the Valley shouldn't miss.