Right of way woes

PALMER — The Mat-Su Borough Assembly finally took action on beginning the process of reconstruction on Houston Middle School on Tuesday.

The assembly moved Action Memorandum 20-009 to contract with Bezek, Durst, Seiser Inc., for the $2,449,313 design contract for the repair and replacement of the 93,152 square foot Houston Middle School. Of five proposals received, BDS was viewed as the strongest and design work began on Wednesday. The design is expected to be completed by this summer so construction can begin in the fall.

After the school was one of many in the Mat-Su Borough School District damaged during the November 30, 2018, earthquake, Houston Middle School has not seen students since that day as it was deemed unsafe. The long-awaited action on a plan to repair HMS comes without the full funding of $29 million that the repair is expected to cost as the borough is still awaiting on decisions from the Army Corps of Engineers. The ordinance states that “Methods were used to best ensure the Mat-Su Borough’s opportunity to seek FEMA reimbursement.”

Borough Finance Director Cheyenne Heindel received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, the highest award in governmental budgeting. Hannah Newberry and Lyndsey Brisard were also given special recognition for their preparation of the borough’s budget document. As opposed to giving a presentation on the state of borough roads, Department of Transportation Highway Design Chief for the central region James Amundsen began by telling the assembly members that highway problems are his ultimate responsibility. Amundsen opened by allowing Assembly members to ask questions, some of which revealed shocking answers.

Phase 2 of the Glenn Highway reconstruction has been delayed.

“Due to continuing right of way process and utility relocation design, construction of the phase 2 roadway and pathway is expected to begin in 2021, pending availability of funding etc,” reads the DOT website.

Assemblywoman Stephanie Nowers told Amundsen she was discouraged by the delay and detailed her issues with lack of striping and countdown timers on lights. Amundsen said that DOT is looking at the possibility of side track for the railroad to prevent traffic stoppages at Inner and Outer Springer Loop. Amundsen is also working on realigning intersections to provide reasonable access to the gravel pit. Assemblyman Jesse Sumner asked when the roundabout for Bogard Road and Engstrom Road will be completed. As one of the most dangerous non-lighted intersections in the Valley, the construction on Engstrom road has grown the traffic far over capacity.

The environmental impact statement is still being completed and must reduce impact to the adjacent historic Havemeister Farm and will not be implemented until 2022 at the earliest. Sumner questioned why the design calls for a smaller roundabout with a flat middle and Amundsen said that putting mounds in the center of roundabouts decreases visibility and prevents drivers from entering the roundabout at dangerous speeds, calling it balance of art and science.

Assemblyman Tim Hale asked when the earthquake damage would be repaired on Clark-Wolverine Road at Wolverine Creek. Amundsen informed Hale that the damage has been assessed and geotechnical data must be gathered. Repairs will not be made until the summer of 2020. While Amundsen receives updates on every active project including Clark-Wolverine Road, he noted the difficulty of moving heavy equipment to the gorge.

“It isn’t going to be easy or cheap,” said Amundsen.

Assemblywoman Tam Boeve questioned why different asphalt was laid on the Parks Highway near Trapper Creek. Boeve said that her constituents in Trapper Creek are complaining about chipped asphalt coming up and hitting windshields.

“It was an experimental feature that we were trying. It’s a coated chip seal instead of a more normal asphalt surface treatment. I would say the jury is still out but I’d be fibbing. We pretty well decided that that won’t be happening because of the amount of windshield damage,” said Amundsen.

The largest issue Amundsen deals with is the difficulty in moving projects forward due to lack of right of way acquisition. DOT still has over 220 right of way properties to acquire on the Glenn Highway and over 200 on the Parks Highway and Knik-Goose Bay. Listed as the borough’s top priority during their legislative priority meeting, Knik-Goose Bay Road has had 16 fatal accidents over the last five years.

“Is there any way that we can perhaps steal resources from other projects in order to complete our right of way acquisition this year so that we can move the project forward,” asked Assemblyman Dan Mayfield.

Amundsen detailed the issues with the lack of qualified employees to help DOT acquire the properties. Amundsen said that in the last two decades, right of way acquisition production by DOT has more than doubled from around 100 properties a year to over 250 last year, but still isn’t enough.

“It is the number one project in the state. It is getting first cut and first dibs on every single asset I own,” said Amundsen. “We are literally running out of qualified staff across the state to do that work.”

Amundsen was also questioned about the possibility of reducing speed limits on KGB to improve safety. Amundsen gave Assemblyman Ted Leonard a surprising answer that statistics show that artificially reduced speed limits increase accident rates and non-compliance by drivers.