Old Glenn Highway repaving needs public support

A Spectrum, by Lucille Frey

The Old Glenn Highway, between the Matanuska River bridge and the overpass to the Glenn Highway, has been deteriorating from lack of maintenance and increased traffic flow. As a resident of the Butte since 1955, the only major repairs that I recall were the rebuilding of a section of the highway that washed out during a major flood in August 1971 and a pavement overlay approximately 20 or so years ago. Various patch jobs have been mostly ineffective and as the traffic has increased the road has become unsafe.

As a Capital Improvement Project for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough it has moved up and down the CIP and STIP (State Transportation Improvement Project) lists over the years but kept losing out to other projects.

Last time I checked it had completely disappeared from any consideration by the borough.

To blame any one of our current legislative delegation to Juneau for the condition of the Old Glenn, as Larry Wood chastised Representative Scott Ogan in a recent Spectrum, is inaccurate.

The legislative delegation looks to the borough for support on road projects and if the borough ignores or gives low priority to certain roads these roads are not likely to receive strong legislative support.

After hoping that someone else at Butte Community Council would take on the project to call attention to the situation, I finally decided that it just was not going to happen. Last fall a citizen's petition to request an upgrade for the highway was placed at local businesses.

Thanks to the enthusiastic support from Butte businesses -- Butte Shop In, Pioneer Peak Equipment, The Store, Rhonda's Cafe, and Dr. James Hunt's office in Palmer -- 750 plus signatures were gathered from Butte residents and other users of the highway.

In January 2002, they were sent to the Valley's legislative delegation and to State Senate Transportation Chair John Cowdery.

Vic Kohring, chair of the House Transportation Committee, and Rep. Ogan deserve special thanks for their work on the project. Senator Lyda Green was instrumental in getting it included on the General Obligation bond package for November election.

The bond package includes other statewide road projects as well as the $13.2 million for the Old Glenn upgrade.

Assemblyman Bruce Bush also deserves thanks for lobbying to get the highway upgrade included in the bond package.

The $13.2 million falls short of widening the entire length between the Matanuska bridge and the Glenn overpass, so, if the bond issue passes, continued support by the community will be needed to bring the full 19 miles of highway up to a safe standard.

The Department of Transportation's proposal is "to rehabilitate the Old Glenn Highway from Palmer to the Old Glenn Highway. Includes separated pathway and widened shoulders from Palmer to Plumley Road. Repaving only from Plumley Road to the Glenn Highway interchange."

Lucille T. Frey is a Butte resident.