Road funds OK'd

Bogard-Seldon extension gets $21 million lift

November 4, 2005

DARRELL L. BREESE/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - Ca-ching! Borough accepts money for east-west roadway.

Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly members voted unanimously to hold out their hands Tuesday night and happily accept $21 million in state and federal funds for several local road projects. Chief among them is the east and west extension of the Bogard and Seldon Road corridor.

A portion of the funds come from federal earmarks that the borough requested and U.S. Rep. Don Young delivered. Of the $7 million federal grant, $4 million is dedicated to the extension of Seldon Road west from Church to the Parks Highway.

Gov. Frank Murkowski came through with $14 million for the extension of Bogard east to the Glenn Highway and west to Church Road.

In accepting the money Tuesday, the borough also agreed to take over the development of the

projects.

&#8220This is not something new,” Murph O'Brien, the borough's director of planning and land use, said. &#8220But it has been a while since we have done it.”

Newly elected assembly member Cindy Bettine expressed concerns about the borough taking on

projects typically handled by the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities

&#8220Not sure I like the borough taking over state road projects,” she said during the discussion Tuesday. &#8220But if that is what it takes to get the road built in a timely manner, if it means we don't have to wait for DOT, which could take longer than anyone would like, then so be it.”

Palmer Mayor John Combs, who was at the meeting to report on the business of the city, took a moment to tout the benefits of completing the extension projects for both Palmer and the borough as a whole.

&#8220This is a much needed project,” Combs said. &#8220Anyone who has driven the Palmer-Wasilla Highway knows that there needs to be something done to provide some sort of congestion relief. I believe these projects will benefit the entire borough, not just the people of Palmer and Wasilla.”

Combs also encouraged the assembly to make sure to do the project right, putting in a four-lane road instead of two.

In response, O'Brien indicated that, ideally, Bogard Road would be a limited-access roadway, unlike the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, which has multiple intersecting side roads.

&#8220Initially a four-lane road will not be needed,” O'Brien said. &#8220And there is not enough money available right now to do that. But we will make sure to secure enough right of way to make the road four lanes in the future.”

A portion of the federal earmarks include $1 million to construct a bridge over the Little Susitna River to the proposed site of the Hatcher Pass Ski Area, which was a matter of concern to assembly member Talis Colberg.

&#8220Why are we approving a bridge to a project that has not been approved?” Colberg asked. &#8220What will happen if the project is never approved?”

O'Brien responded that accepting the money is one of the steps needed to take in order to enter into agreements with the federal and state agencies, and that without approving the funding, the borough couldn't move forward with the projects.

&#8220Accepting the money in no way means that we are moving forward with the Hatcher Pass project,” O'Brien explained. &#8220If we never develop the ski area, we will not need to build the bridge. The vote is simply to accept the funds to have them in place if we do move forward with the proposal.”

Part of moving forward will involve determining the route the road extensions will take and the impact they will have on the existing portions of Bogard and Seldon Roads.

&#8220Right now, we don't know at what point the Bogard extension would intersect the Glenn or what route the road would take,” O'Brien said. &#8220We are looking at the possibility of connecting to Arctic or maybe Scott Road. Right now nothing is certain, part of the funding is for the design and determining the best possible route for the road.

The funding will only pay for the new portions of Bogard and Seldon roads and will not be used to repair or update the existing roads.

&#8220I'm sure that we will do something to resurface the roads, otherwise we will have a new section at either end of the extension,” O'Brien said. &#8220And if we don't work something out to resurface and update the roads, I doubt we would see the people using the roads as desired.”

He went on to say that the DOT would likely resurface the roads as part of the regular repaving program.

&#8220Traffic studies show that there are currently a lot of motor vehicles traveling along Bogard and Seldon Roads,” O'Brien said. &#8220And the addition of the two extensions would likely add to that. So any project would have to include some level of repair and resurfacing to those roads to handle the increased traffic loads.”

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or at darrell.breese@ frontiersman.com.