Road funding cuts hit Central region hardest

MAT-SU -- In a Sept. 19 letter asking for clarifications from the Alaska Department of Transportation, Mat-Su Borough Manager John Duffy revealed the borough's disappointment with the recently released 2004-2006 statewide transportation improvement plan.

"As proposed, the draft 2004-2006 STIP lacks in fundamental fairness and will cause serious harm to the Borough's and Central Region's ability to provide a safe and efficient transportation system to the region's residents," the letter states. "The negative impact on the region's economy that will be caused by the lack of adequate transportation funding will also be dramatic and have statewide implications."

Duffy's Sept. 19 letter lines out several specific questions for DOT officials, and follows a Sept. 18 letter drafted and signed by representatives from the Municipality of Anchorage Assembly and the Mat-Su Borough Assembly. In that letter, signed by both municipal mayors, the groups request a delay in implementing changes to the STIP until a working group has studied the impacts of the changes.

Alaska Department of Transportation special assistant to the commissioner Walt Sheridan said the Mat-Su Borough and Anchorage aren't the only areas concerned about the funding shortfall.

"A lot of folks are concerned about it," Sheridan said. In fact, DOT officials have been meeting in Juneau this week, discussing the comments received during the STIP comment period as they come up with their list of recommendations for the final STIP.

What's at issue is a $125 million drop in expected transportation funding from the federal government. The federal funding is made up of revenue from nationwide gas taxes, and Sheridan said those tax revenues are down.

"With the economy down, there's less money going into the federal highway trust," Sheridan said. "Gas purchases declined … which means less money for the feds to parcel out."

Although Sheridan said nobody's happy with the draft STIP, Duffy said what stings is where the funding shortfall is apparently being made up. The Central Region -- of which the Mat-Su Borough is a big part, Duffy said, shoulders a disproportionate share of the cuts. That's while the Alaska Marine Highway System gets a funding increase of more than $190 million, from $349 million in the Nov. 2002 draft STIP to $540 million in the proposed Aug. 2003 STIP. That's just one example of the inequities, Duffy said.

"The draft STIP does not succeed in explaining in any detail why the department, on the one hand, completely removes or delays projects where significant investments have already been made, such as the borough's Trunk Road, while on the other hand embarks on major new projects requiring hundreds of millions of dollars such as Bradfield Canal ($300 million)," Duffy wrote.

Sheridan said the Bradfield Canal project -- a project that would provide the central panhandle area with another access route into Canada -- is one that has been discussed for years. The project would give the communities of Wrangell, Petersburg and Sitka access to Canadian Highway 37 through a 30-mile road up the Bradfield Canal. A previous estimate of construction would total more than $100 million, with more funding needed for planning and design. Proponents say the project would give more Panhandle residents road access, increase tourism and boost natural resource production, shipping and other areas of the economy. Opponents say the cost exceeds the benefits, and constructing the project, which is strongly opposed by Canadian officials who say it would put a strain on their economy, could erode the working relationship between Alaska and Canada.

In short, Duffy said, the Mat-Su Borough has very few road projects on the STIP list, and even fewer scheduled for completion between now and 2006. While the Trunk Road realignment had been scheduled for construction by 2006, road work is now as far out as 2008 -- a crucial difference, Duffy said. Projects financed through the GARVEE bonds, or guaranteed anticipated revenue vehicle bonds passed by voters last fall, are moving forward, as that money is not affected by federal appropriations. But the Palmer-Wasilla Highway upgrade, Duffy said, is so far out on the horizon it's no longer visible. The likelihood of a project being developed, he said, changes significantly with how far it's scheduled on the STIP list.

"Next year is the most solid; the following year, you can have some confidence," Duffy said. "Once you get to the third year, it's very iffy. Get beyond the third year and all bets are off. It's not very comforting at all to see Trunk Road be in the fifth year of this program."

Pushing work on borough projects out, Duffy said, brings another complication into play -- one that's particularly visible in the Trunk Road case, in which right-of-way hasn't yet been purchased. The project will cut through a residential area, with one route proposed for construction necessitating the move of two homes, a barn and potentially one business. A second construction route would mean moving nine homes and one business. Right-of-way purchasing has not been completed yet, and Duffy said delaying that project and others cutting through residential areas, while homes continue to be built and land developed, only adds to eventual project costs.

Sheridan said DOT officials are working through the STIP suggestions now and some changes are being made. Although Sheridan couldn't speculate when the process would be finished, the STIP must be forwarded for federal approval by Sept. 30. While there have been rumors more funding has been found, Sheridan said he hadn't sat in on the STIP comment review meetings and couldn't comment on specific changes suggested. Duffy said he and others at the borough understood why some reductions were needed, but both the reduction in funding and the projects in the list should be shared according to need; and it doesn't appear need was the top priority in the STIP draft.

"We understand the available funds are down," Duffy said. "But we believe everyone should share equally in the revenues. We have two-thirds of all the vehicle miles traveled in the state -- we should not have to shoulder all of the burden."

Although comments are no longer being accepted on the draft STIP, borough residents concerned about roads can contact DOT Commissioner Mike Barton's office at (907) 465-3901 or by mail at 3132 Channel Drive, Juneau AK 99801.