Trunk Road land buys slated for spring

February 19, 2006

DAWN DE BUSK\Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - A gray Chevrolet Cavalier veered into and then out of 57-year-old Carla Cunnington's lane, but before the daycare provider could exhale in relief, the sedan swerved again, ramming her Blazer head-on and pushing it into a ditch.

The Jan. 27 crash Cunnington experienced occurred on one of Trunk Road's curves, near the intersection of Forestwood Drive. Despite that bruising experience, Cunnington hasn't changed the route of her Houston-to-Palmer commute. &#8220I go that way because there's less traffic,” Cunnington said. &#8220I could get there faster probably on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway. l drive slower in winter weather. Instead of holding up 35 or 40 cars, I only hold back three cars or so. I love the area just before my accident. I've seen a fox on the road. I saw two wolves running across the road. Sometimes, the moon is out and it's beautiful.”

What Cunnington enjoys about Trunk Road - the lazy curves that make for a slow, scenic ride - is what drives other people nuts and leaves them asking why Trunk Road hasn't been straightened yet. The actual construction won't begin until summer 2008, but appraising and purchasing the property needed to straighten and widen Trunk Road will start this spring, according to Judy Dougherty, a project manager with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities.

&#8220This project can't come soon enough. There are just more and more cars on that road,” Dougherty said.

Already, $4.6 million has been set aside for rights-of-way acquisitions, she said, and DOT is preparing to take bids on the job of negotiating with approximately 40 property owners whose land will be affected by the proposed route, she said.

&#8220It's a long and arduous process. We want to treat people fairly,” she said. &#8220On a lot of Trunk Road Š where we only own the road from ditch to ditch, we will have to buy quite a bit of property,” Dougherty said.

The curvy road started out as a wagon trail and evolved into a road as more residents began traveling in motorized vehicles. DOT began to maintain the thoroughfare and clean out the ditches. Eventually, the department owned the road.

With federal dollars going toward the project in October 2007, road construction should begin in earnest in summer 2008, Dougherty said. Some tree-clearing could take place in the fall or winter of 2007, she said.

Dougherty plans to hold a public meeting before summer, while Valley schools are still in session.

In the wake of Cunnington's crash, her 1984 Chevrolet Blazer was considered totaled and a deep-purple bruise the size of an ostrich egg bloomed on her hip. She said she has mixed feelings about the future Trunk Road upgrades. She agrees that a wider road will be better. Cunnington remembers traveling Trunk Road with her husband about 15 years ago. They pulled over and she picked flowers growing in a field.

&#8220It seemed like it was in the boonies then,” she said. &#8220I'll miss the curves of the road. It's a fun road with nice scenery - too bad more people don't enjoy it. It's not a bad road, people just drive too fast. It'll be nice when the road is wider because then people will be able to go around me when I'm driving slow.”

Contact Dawn De Busk at

352-2252 or dawn.debusk@

frontiersman.com.