New KGB post office blocked from using driveway

WASILLA — The developers of a new building slated to host a U.S. Post Office on Knik-Goose Bay Road have been blocked by the Mat-Su Borough from using one of the property’s driveways, and could also be required to pay to widen the road pending the outcome of a newly ordered traffic study, according to a letter obtained by the Frontiersman.

The building, which faces Knik-Goose Bay Road, currently has two access points — a southern driveway and a northern driveway — connecting the building from the side to Country Road. That road leads from Knik-Goose Bay Road to a residential area. The northern driveway directly accesses the parking area, and is slightly wider than the second, southern driveway. The southern driveway leads both to the building’s fenced-off rear and connects with the rest of the parking lot.

But the borough late last week ordered the developers to not use the wider northern driveway because it poses a traffic hazard, according to the letter.

“You may not utilize the northern driveway, this is the one closest to Knik Goose Bay Road (KGB), into this property at this time,” the letter signed by Borough manager John Moosey states. “The safety of our citizens is paramount in this decision. It seems apparent that the high anticipated volume of traffic turning off Knik Goose Bay Road onto Country Drive, then immediately onto this northern driveway would almost certainly back traffic up onto KGB and cause accidents.” The letter was sent to the developers, Igor Pavlus and Corey Rossi, of Precision Homes LLC, Oct. 27. Pavlus and Rossi did not immediately return a request for comment.

The letter goes on to instruct Precision Homes to not only conduct a study known as a “traffic impact analysis,” (TIA) but to pay for any road changes that the study and its follow-ups from the borough find are needed.

“As your development has spurred the need for this requirement we are requiring that you perform this TIA and fund any changes needed resulting from the TIA,” the letter says.

That could include paying to widen Country Road said George Hays, the borough’s deputy manager.

“If Country Drive needs a third lane, then it is my understanding we can force him to do it because his building that facility there caused this problem,” Hays said.

The property’s driveways and road impact presents a series of issues that break borough code, Hays said.

Driveways must be at least 150 feet from the intersection. The property’s northern driveway, he said, does not meet that standard.

Also, any construction project that has a major impact on traffic flow must conduct a TIA study before officials give their OK. But such a study was never done on the new post office development, he said.

That’s likely because the developers put in the driveway without getting the proper borough permits and corresponding instructions to conduct a study, Hays said.

“There was confusion, and they built both of those without a finalized permit,” Hays said. “That was the original problem. When they said ’hey we need final approval,’ we said ‘well, wait a minute, you have to get the permit before you build it.’”

The post office was slated to open Nov. 13, Hays said, but he is unsure modifications can be made to the remaining driveway in time.

The borough’s top concern for this project is safety, he said.

“We don’t know if he can make the modifications he needs to make in time,” he said. “I shouldn’t be as callous to say ‘we don’t care’ but we know he must have the safety modifications.”

Knik-Goose Bay Road is slated to be widened by the state, among other improvements, in the next several years, borough officials said. When that happens the driveways will change to access the development from the rear.

Hays said the borough can’t stop the developers from using the property for a post office — but they can stop them from accessing the road.

“We don’t direct what he does on the property. We just say whether he can have a driveway or not and when he can have it,” Hays said.

USPS officials did not return a call for comment.