Mat-Su Assembly member moves to reconsider Engstrom-Trunk road route

Assembly member Maxwell Sumner has filed a motion to reconsider the resolution that picked Northern Route 1 for a new road between Engstrom Road and Trunk Road, reopening the borough's contested route decision.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly takes up the motion at its Tuesday, Oct. 6 meeting, at 6 p.m. in Palmer.

The corridor is meant to give Fishhook-area drivers an alternate route and ease traffic at the Engstrom and Bogard Road intersection, according to the borough project page, which lists an estimated total cost of $19.2 million. The agenda does not state Sumner's reasons.

Alaska News previously covered the assembly's selection of the pricier route over advisers and landowners. Before that vote, the Mat-Su Borough Planning Commission had backed a southern route estimated at about $9 million.

In a Sept. 19 update on the Sept. 15 assembly meeting, Mayor Edna DeVries said, "Most of the support really were for the southern route, but the assembly did vote 4 to 3 to approve the administration's recommendation for the northern route." She said the administration told members "currently there is no money because of course both projects are very expensive." In November 2021, Mat-Su voters approved the TIP 21 transportation bond package, which included $2.5 million earmarked for this corridor.

The two sides have argued safety and traffic. "If you're trying to affect safety in that area, the southern route does so, the northern route does not," Rod Hanson said in testimony at the Sept. 15 meeting. Borough project manager Cole Branham defended the northern option, saying it "serves a broader area and distributes traffic." Borough traffic modeler Trevor Straight cautioned that the southern route's modeled safety and delay advantage could fall within the margin of error, since projections extend decades into the future. Southern-route supporter Sharon Johnson, a Bogard Road-area resident, told the planning commission that the northern road "faces strong sustained opposition from the affected landowners."

Residents can submit written comments to [email protected] or testify by phone at 1-855-225-2326 before the assembly takes up the motion Oct. 6. Audience participation comes before the motion on the agenda.