Time has come for major upgrade

to P-W Highway

February 28, 2006

Area roads have been making news lately - and the reports are not good for drivers. Three sections of road in the Valley have been designated among the state's most deadly.

Roads have also been on the minds of area legislators. A Saturday public meeting was convened in Wasilla, with most Valley lawmakers participating, that solicited public feedback on road issues.

Roads with high fatalities may be getting more attention these days, but the Palmer-Wasilla Highway deserves to be included in any serious consideration of necessary road upgrades. Accidents seem to be more and more commonplace along the 10-mile thoroughfare between the borough's hub cities, as are scary day-to-day conditions for commu-ters. This shouldn't be surprising, considering the increase in traffic flow.

There has been talk for years about the need for improvements to the highway. That talk usually includes discussion of how expensive those improvements will be.

The biggest expense is buying up rights of way along both sides of the highway. No small task, for sure. But the task, and its expense, are not going to get any smaller by putting them off.

Factored into this is the human cost, which is incalculable. To date, fatalities on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway have been few. But the growing number of vehicles and collisions does not bode well for the future.

Is the cost, then, of not doing necessary improvements too great to ignore?

The state is enjoying a significant budget surplus. At the same time, new and potentially lucrative revenue streams, in the form of oil and gas industry taxes, are being discussed.

While we understand the need for a rainy-day fund, we also see rain clouds permanently fixed over the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. This is a real need that exists today.

A good first step in formulating a workable solution is to empower a committee of residents, law enforcement personnel, legislators and Department of Transportation officials to devise a draft plan for the project. At a minimum, a third lane is needed for left turns in either direction. But if work is to be done, it should be a project that also recognizes the growth trend in the area, which really makes a four- or five-lane highway a more practical solution.

Valley residents are fortunate to have a couple of veteran lawmakers in Juneau and a delegation, as a whole, that carries some clout. What a worthwhile legacy it would be for them to spearhead a makeover of the Palmer-Wasilla Highway.