One Valley, one voice

It appears strides are being made toward uniting the Valley.

At the joint meeting of the Palmer and Wasilla chambers of commerce on Tuesday, Palmer Mayor John Combs and Houston Mayor Roger Purcell spoke of the need for all the communities in the Valley to speak as one voice when going to the state for money and other agencies for grants. Wasilla’s new mayor, Verne Rupright was absent on other business, but Combs said the three mayors, as well as borough officials, have begun meeting once a month to work on a strategy to improve infrastructure and attract businesses to the Valley.

Two of the main concerns to the area: roads and sewage treatment.

As Mayor Combs said, sewage isn’t a very sexy topic, but Palmer and Wasilla are facing tough decisions in the future. There are short-term fixes to aging systems, but for the long term the cities, and the borough, may need to join forces to build a large, communal treatment plant that Combs said could reach $150 million.

One of the bigger concerns hangs on the borough’s shoulders — septic tanks throughout the Valley. For now, when those thousands of septics are pumped each year, that refuse is trucked to a plant in Anchorage. That town has its own problems and officials here fear the day will come when Anchorage says the Valley pumper-dumpers will have to unload their burdens somewhere else. Right now, that place doesn’t exist.

So it’s good that all the communities are looking down the road for a solution.

And speaking of roads, it’s clear when 7:30 a.m. rolls around and 4:30 p.m. comes, traffic in the core area and beyond is thick.

Trying to get on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway from a non-stoplight side street is an act of patience. And some drivers haven’t exercised that patience, making the 10-mile stretch one of the most dangerous in the state. More stoplights have improved that, and more this summer will make it even safer, but the lights won’t alleviate congestion.

Palmer has a project in the works that will direct traffic in and out of town more efficiently, but what’s to be done about the congestion in Wasilla? And if you haven’t driven down Knik-Goose Bay Road during the morning or evening, you’re in for a unpleasant treat.

Mayor Purcell says 10,000 to 15,000 vehicles on the Parks Highway pass through his town each day when traffic is heaviest.

When the commuters hit Trunk Road, it’s a crowded, winding two-lane road pouring onto the P-W Highway or points north.

And the Valley still seems to be growing. Even if the population stabilized, the road system now is inadequate for the present traffic load.

The mayors and the borough are looking at ways to create bypasses, new north-south roads and more exits off the highways, but all that costs tons of money in planning, designing, right-of-way acquisition and eventually construction. Those kinds of projects take time as well as money.

At least now the cities and the borough are finally trying to speak as one, 80,000-strong voice.