Traffic, access concerns loom over gravel pit proposed for a historic Mat-Su dairy site

What you need to know:

• A borough hearing on the fate of a large gravel pit proposed for the historic Havemeister Dairy property, located between two of the area’s most problematic roads, will be recommended for delayed pending a state decision on one of the project’s access roads.
• Central Gravel Products plans to develop a 153-acre gravel pit on the property, spanning three parcels bordered by Bogard, Engstrom and Trunk roads. The new pit would replace a nearby site that is nearing depletion. Central Gravel provides materials for a wide variety of projects in the area.
• Driveways into the pit are proposed for the busy Bogard and Engstrom roads. An access management plan under development for the Bogard-Seldon corridor would limit new driveways and could affect the approval process. A state decision on Central Gravel’s proposed Bogard driveway is pending. A borough-issued gravel and driveway permit is also required. 

WASILLA — Borough officials will recommend a hearing on the fate of a large, new gravel pit proposed for the historic Havemeister Dairy property and located between two of the area’s most problematic roads be delayed pending a state decision on one of the project’s necessary access roads.

The 153-acre project proposed by Central Gravel Products would span three parcels bordered by Bogard, Engstrom and Trunk roads, according to a permit application filed with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The land was previously used for agriculture, including by the Havemeister Dairy, which closed in 2021. The area is also home to several subdivisions.

Landowners Bob Havemeister and Ralph Kircher plan to lease the parcels to Central Gravel, according to the application. Central Gravel plans to extract sand and gravel in rolling 10-acre increments over an estimated 30-year period with some rock crushing conducted on site, the application states.

The Havemeister Dairy barn, along with some farm fields and residences visible from Bogard and Trunk roads, would be left intact under the proposal, according to the application. Trees and brush will screen the pit along Trunk and Bogard roads, though operations may eventually be at least partially visible from Engstrom, according to maps included with the application.

The proposed pit would replace Central Gravel's operations at its current site on Bogard Road, about a half-mile east of the new area. That land, also owned by Kircher and leased to Central Gravel, is expected to run out of material next year, said Jade Laughlin, who co-owns the company with his wife, Kelly Heck.

Central Gravel is one of the few companies in the core area providing needed gravel for both small and large projects, including per-bucket sales to local homeowners, Laughlin said. 

Kircher declined to comment on his future plans for the current gravel site after it closes or his plans to lease land for a new pit. The Havemeister family did not respond to a request for comment.

The state-managed stretch of Bogard Road that runs in front of the Havemeister property and the proposed pit is one of the busiest and oldest roads in the Mat-Su, with more than 10,000 vehicles a day traveling on a dark, deeply rutted thoroughfare built before statehood, according to state data. The busy intersection with Engstrom Road, which provides access to several subdivisions, regularly causes lengthy backups and dozens of collisions each year, according to the borough.

The road was last resurfaced in 2007, state officials said. A paving project is scheduled for next summer, and a roundabout to ease congestion at the intersection is scheduled for completion in 2026.

Central Gravel's permit application calls for trucks to enter and exit the property primarily through a proposed driveway connected to Bogard Road, with a secondary, entrance-only driveway proposed for Engstrom Road. Before the project can start, it must receive both a state-issued permit for the Bogard driveway and a borough-issued gravel extraction permit, as well as a separate borough permit for the Engstrom entrance.

Borough planning officials said a Planning Commission hearing and vote on the permits, currently scheduled for Nov. 18, will be postponed until at least December while they await a state decision on the proposed Bogard driveway since that ruling could affect the commission's final vote.

State Department of Transportation officials said they do not know when the driveway application will be reviewed or how long the review will take.

“DOT&PF does not have a set timeline for these reviews,” transportation department spokesperson Shannon McCarthy said in a statement. “This particular application is complex due to various factors, and I would expect the permit review to take longer than usual.”

Those "various factors," borough and state planning officials said last week, include a proposed joint state-borough access management plan for the Bogard-Seldon corridor that would explicitly prohibit most new driveway connections to the road. While the access plan has not yet been approved and is not currently enforceable, its development and potential recommendations are top of mind as planners review applications like the one submitted for Central Gravel, officials said.

“It’s a good tool to have a discussion about where we’re headed,” said Tom Adams, the borough’s public works director. “It’s also a good tool for folks who are making decisions on development to see what the potential impacts on their property might be in the future.”

For example, while the plan isn’t yet in use, developers of a subdivision under construction on Bogard Road east of Colony High School used its standards when putting in a new road access point over the summer, Adams said.

Some residents who live near the proposed pit site and attended a recent North Lakes Community Council meeting focused on the proposal said they would be sad to see farmland converted to a new gravel pit.

But others said they are more worried about the traffic impact created by gravel trucks traveling on Engstrom Road.

Laughlin said that during its May to November annual operating season, Central Gravel sees as many as 12 trucks an hour, six days a week, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Because the new pit will replace the current site, the plan won’t bring any additional traffic to the general area.

Designating the proposed Engstrom driveway as an entrance only will ensure that trucks do not cross in front of residential traffic as they enter, he said, and the operation would close that entrance daily at 4 p.m. to reduce any rush hour impacts.

Residents at the community council meeting also said they’re worried the project could create additional snow drifts across Engstrom where heavy winter snow and wind events already cause temporary road closures. But Laughlin said the operation would likely help reduce the drifts over time due to digging and because of how his team plans to construct the line-of-sight berms required by the borough.

Laughlin said he views his operation as a community asset because it is a family-owned business that employs local residents and is one of the few gravel pits in the core area selling material to a variety of users.

He also sees companies like his as a way to keep construction prices in check, he said. While it’s tempting for residents to ask the borough to approve new pits only outside the core area, where fewer people can see them, trucking in gravel brings increased fees and extra wear and tear on area roads, he said.

While North Lakes Community Council officials said they expect the permit application will ultimately be approved, they believe the pit shouldn’t start operations without a thorough traffic solution that doesn’t place truck traffic on Engstrom or that section of Bogard. A resolution passed by the council at the meeting calls for the borough to work with Central Gravel to build a new connector road north of the project site to allow truck traffic to enter and exit via Trunk Road and to divert other traffic from Engstrom Road.

Borough officials said such a road project is unlikely due to its high cost and because a separate connector about a mile north of the properties was approved by voters for development in 2021. That project does not have a projected completion date.

The Nov. 18 Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Borough Administration Building in Palmer. The next regular Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for Dec. 2.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at abushatz@matsusentinel.com

This story was updated Nov. 12 to correct the spelling of Havemeister and to clarify family landownership. This story was updated Nov. 26 to clarify the source of the hearing delay.