Revised transportation plan looks better for borough

MAT-SU -- The forecast is looking brighter for the Mat-Su Borough, at least as it relates to road construction issues.

Alaska Department of Transportation Commissioner Mike Barton, along with DOT's Central Region Director Mike Scott, spoke to the Mat-Su Borough Assembly Tuesday, and indicated revisions made to the State Transportation Improvement Project list will reduce the burden of cuts shouldered by the Central region, the state's most populous area.

Under the previous version of the 2004-2006 STIP, DOT officials incorporated a $125 million drop in expected transportation funding from the federal government. At the time, borough officials met with officials from the Municipality of Anchorage and sent off a letter supporting a revised STIP. The next day, Borough Manager John Duffy sent a letter recommending several specific issues be addressed in the revision. It was clear through the two actions that officials from the two areas, which make up DOT's Central Region, felt the area was unjustly left to shoulder most of the cuts on its own, while project funding in other areas was cut little or, in some areas, increased. After considering the public comments received last month about the STIP, DOT officials have made some changes. Those changes were the topic of the work session Tuesday, but specifics about the STIP were not yet ready to be released, leaving the discussion to center around a document not yet finalized.

"When I first looked at the STIP, I noticed the Central region shouldered most of the burden," said Borough Manager John Duffy. "Is it, in the revised version, more equal?"

"We tried to correct that," Barton said.

Assembly member Talis Colberg asked whether there would be more money for the area, or simply a change in how the funding is approached.

"There is more money," Barton said.

Although Barton and Scott didn't give hard numbers at the assembly work session, they were optimistic recommended changes to the plan would benefit the borough. Some of the suggestions for change put forward in a letter Duffy sent had been taken into consideration. One request was to consider local contributions such as gravel, as part of the local match required by the state's project funding formula. The Mat-Su Borough, according to DOT officials, has a track record of drumming up a significant amount of in-kind contributions to area road projects.

Scott said the STIP will be released this week or next. DOT officials, he said, will be making presentations around the Valley to discuss the changes in the plan, and update people on the process of its approval.

"I think the Valley will be happier after the new STIP is released," Scott said.