Street plan OK'd

July 14, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

WASILLA -After more than two hours of discussion on a resolution about a concept, the city council voted Monday night in favor of a plan to improve Main Street traffic.

From the four concepts offered by the Department of Transportation, the council chose Plan D, which would make Main Street one way southbound. The plan also would extend Talkeetna Street across the Parks Highway to Yenlo Street, and extend Yenlo Street from Swanson to Bogard Road for northbound traffic. Talkeetna Street also would extend south to connect with Knik-Goose Bay Road.

The estimated cost of the project is $9.5 million, according to Brad Sworts, Southcentral

planner for the Department of Transportation.

Not everyone was happy with the decision, including Don Weaver of Valley Residential Services. VRS had plans in the works for a couple of years to build 118 residential housing units, including 20 percent for senior citizens and 25 percent for people with special needs, Weaver said. A three-lane, one-way thoroughfare would be dangerous to people in wheelchairs, children and the elderly, he said. Weaver asked the council to postpone its vote.

Many people spoke about the need to get the railroad tracks out of town or above the road. All but one of the plans offered, including the one approved by the council, called for the same at-grade railroad crossings now in place.

Cindy Bettine, speaking as a business owner on Swanson Avenue, said the railroad detracts from economic development.

Gene Wiseman, chief of EMS at Central Mat-Su, said emergency responders had concerns about the railroad crossings and would like to see them eliminated. The crossings restrict response time, he said.

Several people asked the council to postpone any decision, saying the plan would have a negative affect on Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, downtown businesses and the elementary school.

Cheryl Metiva, executive director of the Wasilla Chamber of Commerce, presented a letter from the chamber supporting a different plan.

&#8220It's taken 20 years to get here tonight,” Cheryl Metiva said. &#8220Holy Pete. Sit down with the borough, the railroad and the chambers. Do aggressive annexation. It's rash to rush forward this evening.”

Dallas Massie said the plans don't really solve the traffic problems, but pushed them into other neighborhoods.

&#8220The elephant in the room is that the city needs a bypass,” Massie said. &#8220It's needed one since I was on the planning commission in the 1970s.”

City Planner Sandra Garley said when DOT suggested a bypass years ago, it was very controversial.

&#8220The city council has to make a tough decision,” Garley said. &#8220But keep an eye on the fact that a decision has to be made. You can take a concept and meld it into a solution.”

Garley urged the council not to put a decision off for another 23 years, a sentiment echoed by Scott Thomas, traffic engineer for DOT.

&#8220This project was tabled two years ago because you couldn't pick,” Thomas said. &#8220I see years going by and Main Street is crowded. These are concept designs. I don't recommend a ‘no build' alternative.”

Council member Marty Metiva asked the men from DOT what their most optimistic time line was if they fast-tracked the

project.

Sworts responded it would be four to five years before road construction would begin. Sworts reminded the council the plan was just a concept.

The resolution was approved 4-2. Council members Metiva and Diana Straub cast the only no votes.

The project is five years out, Sworts said by phone Thursday. The first step is for DOT to add the plan to its environmental documents.

Then the project has to go through design, he said, and next comes right-of-way acquisition and putting in utilities.

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.