Thankful for lights, but don't let guard down

Frontiersman editorial board

It has been a long time in the waiting, but commuters on the Palmer Hay Flats finally have light.

Last week a member of the Frontiersman staff ventured to Anchorage after work expecting the usual pitch-black darkness along the Glenn Highway where it crosses the Palmer Hay Flats. Instead, she found light, and with it a sense of reassurance that any moose or parked vehicles on the side of the road would be easier to spot.

The efforts to get lights on this dangerous, well-used section of highway have been going on for years, with various state and local agencies, including the Mat-Su Borough and Matanuska Electric Association, trying to hammer out the details. Eventually, with some work by Sen. Lyda Green, R-Mat-Su, nearly a million dollars was secured to fund the project.

But even then it wasn't a done deal.

The unfortunate events of Sept. 11, with their long-reaching impact, caused a delay in shipping the 96 light poles needed for the job.

Thanks to the hard work of the Department of Transportation, however, the lights are up and running even before the Dec. 15 project completion date. Crews endured extreme temperatures as they worked along the highway with vehicles zipping by at 55 miles per hour -- if drivers were abiding by the temporary signs.

We thank the many people, from the government workers and legislators to the crews on the side of the highway, for the efforts that have made this stretch of highway safer.

The lights run along a 3-mile stretch of the Glenn where it crosses the Palmer Hay Flats, an area listed among Alaska's top 10 for the most vehicle-moose collisions.

Hundreds of moose migrate to the area each winter to find better foraging grounds. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, about a dozen moose are killed along this section of highway each year. The animals typically weigh around 1,000 pounds and, when hit by a vehicle going 65 mph, can be both deadly and costly.

We are hoping the new lights mean fewer accidents.

But if drivers are not paying attention and driving safely, even the brightest bulbs cannot help them avoid colliding with a moose.

Now is not the time to let down our guard, trusting that we will see anything coming before it is too late. Instead, whether we are driving along a remote, dark stretch of road or along the newly lit Glenn, we must continue to keep our eyes open for moose, for their sake and our own.