Palmer couplet project gets a new moniker, another round of talks

The Department of Transportation & Public Facilities will hold another meeting Thursday regarding new routes in and out of Palmer. Once called the Palmer couplet, it is now dubbed PWHET: Palmer wasilla highway Eastern Terminus.

While the name has changed, the anxieties of residents and merchants haven’t.

It’s going to be hard pleasing all, especially those who don’t see the need for the project at all. It’s not like going into Palmer or leaving is one big traffic jam. The signal lights work and people seem to be able to go on their way without a lot of trouble.

This project, though, is one for the future. It’s been explained at innumerable meetings about more than this project that the traffic on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway is only going to increase in the coming years. One only has to look at the bypass road around Wasilla to Knik-Goose Bay Road to see how some of these projects really do make life easier.

So people should attend the meeting with an open mind. DOT says there will be five new routes presented that were developed by a 19-member advisory committee. That means there will be choices to consider, possibly alleviating some of the angst witnessed at a similar meeting last summer.

Downtown merchants in particular were not happy with a two-lane road coming into town and a two-lane leaving town. They saw that plan as a big U-turn that sent traffic past their firms coming into town and directing them past their businesses leaving town.

It looks like Dogwood Street is still in play. That’s the street that would go behind the Carrs store and connect with the highway just before Hemmer Drive.

Having an alternate way for drivers to get into or out of Palmer is a plan for the future and people who drive there, not just Palmer residents, should be at the meeting to hear what the possibilities are since this project affects lots of people who work in Palmer or have regular business there.

The meeting starts at 4:30 p.m. and runs to 7 p.m. so there is ample time for people on different schedules to see what the plans look like. It’s at the Moose Lodge. For a glimpse at what the meeting will hold, go to www.pwhet.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Public meeting on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway Eastern Terminus, previously called the Palmer Couplet.

When: Thursday, 4:30 to 7 p.m.

Where: Palmer Moose Lodge.

Who: Palmer Community Advisory Council and Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

Why: To present alternative plans for the project.