Wal-Mart intersection catches eye of police

WASILLA — Drivers turning left out of the Wal-Mart north entrance should look out; police are watching.

Wasilla Police Department Lt. Craig Robinson said the department has had numerous complaints about people turning left from the exit closest to the Parks Highway, which is illegal.

“There’s been a lot of near-miss accidents there,” Robinson said.

For a time, police had their hands tied. The only sign warning motorists not to turn left was on private property and the city couldn’t enforce the rule. A couple weeks ago the city installed a “No left turn” sign on the median in front of the exit. Now city cops are watching.

Since the city’s sign went up, Robinson said police have pulled over a few drivers to warn them. He believes they’ve even handed out a few tickets. The city planted the sign in reaction to complaints from the public and in response to requests the police department made.

Store manager Marlene Munsell said a few customers have asked her about why drivers couldn’t turn left from the lot, not realizing there are two exits from the Wal-Mart lot onto South Seward Meridian Parkway.

Left turns, she said, should be made from the south exit on the side of the store’s parking lot farthest from the highway.

“It’s been there since day one,” Munsell said, or at least since the store began expanding to its Supercenter size,

Still, some folks don’t realize there’s another exit there, she said. The exit spits drivers out near where Seward Meridian ends at East Old Matanuska Road. Munsell has made a request to company officials to re-evaluate the north exit and maybe reconfigure it, but she hasn’t heard back yet on the status of her request.

Alaska Department of Transportation project engineer Todd Smith said he hasn’t heard anything about a reconfiguration.

The penalty for making an illegal turn is a $110 fine, Robinson said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiers-man.com or 352-2270.