Wasilla to use circular logic to ease traffic

WASILLA — City and state planners have a one-way vision for transportation.

A plan to alleviate congestion on Main Street and improve the downtown district is finally more than a talking point. The state’s 2011 fiscal year plan includes beginning engineering and planning for the Wasilla Couplet, a project that would create a circular traffic flow around the city’s core downtown area.

“We want to improve mobility and make that part of Wasilla a safer place to travel,” said Allen Kemplen, the Mat-Su area planner for the state Department of Transportation. The state owns Main Street.

The couplet would turn Main Street one-way south from Bogard Road to the Parks Highway, Kemplen said. It would then turn Yenlo Street into one-way northbound and extend it north to Bogard road and south of the Parks Highway to Talkeetna Street.

It’s a $26 million undertaking that’s been in the works for years, Kemplen said. Because all the funding comes from federal dollars, there’s a lengthy timeline.

“Typically, about 90 percent (of the cost) is picked up by federal sources and about 10 percent by state and/or local government,” he said.

In the next year, the couplet is budgeted for $2.2 million in design work, he said. Another $3 million to acquire rights-of-way for properties to extend Yenlo is expected by 2013, with “a little more than $18 million in construction sometime beyond 2013, probably about 2015.”

What that means for Wasilla is that it can begin the initial engineering work, said Councilwoman Dianne Woodruff. Kemplen’s timeline may seem long, but to start to put ideas to work is exciting for city officials.

“It’s been out there for a very, very long time,” she said. “Now we’re getting closer. I think we might actually get it built. The sad part is we identify these needs then they languish until we get the money.”

It’s a project Wasilla badly needs, she said. Escalating north/south traffic on the two-lane Main Street is becoming more of a safety concern. At the same time, the city also wants to create a more centralized and defined downtown district, which would be easier with the circular traffic flow the couplet would provide.

“Where’s the core?” she asked. “Where’s the heart of the downtown core, the heart of the business district? We really don’t have a core yet, but that’s what this is shaping up to be. Palmer has that. I’m hoping this will get us there and that when we’re done, we’ll have a very viable and marketable downtown.”

That’s good news for downtown businesses, said Lynn Carden, Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce executive director. But there’s also concern about how those businesses will survive the construction phase of the project.

“We want to make sure those businesses receive the access and foot traffic they need,” she said. “You never know moment to moment when someone is going to visit your establishment.”

It’s a concern shared by Veronica Hereimi at Donut King, which is located on Main Street just south of Bogard Road.

When asked about the impacts construction could have on Donut King, Hereimi admitted the project was news to her.

“This is honestly the first I’ve heard about it,” she said. “I would just be concerned about it slowing the business down while they were doing that.”

Those are real concerns business owners should have, Woodruff said. She’s mindful of some of the problems Palmer’s downtown area had last summer when emergency water main repair work shut down roads.

“I would like all those businesses that are there now to still be there when we’re all done,” she said.

For the time being, drivers will have to contend with an overloaded Main Street as best they can, Woodruff said.

“It’s a tough place to get in and out of,” she said. “Hopefully, though, this will expedite traffic and make it a bit safer.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.