Should the Mat-Su Borough fix these roads? New ballot measure heads to voters

What you need to know: 

• A road bond measure totaling about $35.9 million will appear on Mat-Su ballots in November. It asks voters to approve funding for 10 road projects throughout the region. If approved, the measure would increase property taxes in the borough by about $20 per $100,000 of assessed value.
• Some of the projects on the list were approved by voters in 2023, but did not get started because that measure required state or federal money to cover some of the construction costs. The new proposal uses only borough funds and would allow those projects to move forward.
• Borough officials say this bond measure is part of a strategy to regularly secure voter-approved debt for infrastructure projects, potentially keeping property tax rates stable by consistently replacing old debt with new.

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PALMER – A road construction bond measure set to appear on Mat-Su ballots in November asks voters to approve funding for nearly a dozen major road projects.

If approved, the measure would allow the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to take on about $35.9 million in new road construction debt, increasing borough property taxes by about $20 per $100,000 of property value. The funds would be used for 10 projects throughout the region.

The ballot measure was approved unanimously by the Assembly on Tuesday. It was sponsored by Assembly member Dmitri Fonov, whose district includes Wasilla. The Assembly also approved additional borough funding for four previously approved projects, including an extension of Tex-Al Drive to Palmer Fishhook Road.

When first proposed late last month, the ballot measure included only seven projects and $33.3 million in funding. Three additional projects were added before Tuesday’s Assembly vote, bringing the total cost to about $39.9 million. The newly added projects include improvements to Echo Lake Drive and Burma Road near Big Lake, and the construction of a new bus access road to Skeetawk in Hatcher Pass.

The bond measure will go before voters in the 2024 election, scheduled for Nov. 5.

Road projects on the 2024 Mat-Su Borough ballot:

• Widening, resurfacing, embankment and drainage improvements on about 2.2 miles of Burma Road from Carpenter Lake Road to Moore Road. Estimated cost: $950,000. Project completion year: 2026.
• Grading, drainage, paving and structural improvements and replacements on Echo Lake Drive from Mahoneys Road to Big Lake Road. Estimated cost: $1.62 million. Project completion year: 2026
• Full construction of a new bus access road into Skeetawk downhill ski area in Hatcher Pass. Estimated cost: $500,000. Project completion year: Unknown.
• Grading, paving and related reconstruction of Green Forest Drive, which connects Palmer-Wasilla Highway to Bogard Road. Estimated cost: $6.2 million. Project completion year: 2027.
• Traffic and safety improvements around Shaw Elementary School on Wasilla-Fishhook Road include adding access to the school from East Foxtrot Avenue. Estimated cost: $12 million. Project completion year: 2027.
• Grading, paving, drainage, and related reconstruction of King Arthur Drive between No Name Hill Drive and George Parks Highway. Estimated cost: $2.1 million. Project completion year: 2026.
• A nearly 1-mile northern extension of Engstrom Road to Tex Al Drive. Estimated cost: $6.1 million. Project completion year: 2027.
• Improvements to nearly 2 miles of Johnsons Road, which runs from Hollywood Road to George Parks Highway, including grading, drainage, paving and shoulder widening. Estimated cost: $3.3 million. Project completion year: 2026.
• Paving, resurfacing and related improvements on about 1.5 miles of Settlers Bay Drive between Turner Drive and Knik-Goose Bay Road. Estimated cost: $2.7 million. Project completion year: 2026.
• Paving, resurfacing and related improvements on about 1 mile of Lakeview Road between Wasilla-Fishhook Road and Seldon Road. Estimated cost: $920,000. Project completion year: 2026.

Some of the road projects on the ballot also received voter approval last year under a different measure that required state or federal funding to cover half the construction costs before work could proceed Money for those projects was not included in the 2025 state budget approved by Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and they remain unfunded. Rather than further delay the work, borough officials are asking for new voter approval to pay for the projects solely through borough property taxes.

While approval of the road bond measure would set the stage for a property tax increase, the costs may not trickle down to tax bills because officials could still find alternative funding sources, borough Manager Mike Brown said last month. For example, a series of projects approved by voters in 2021 have not yet required funding through new bond sales, he said.

The new ballot proposal is also part of a long-term strategy led by Brown to get voters accustomed to regularly approving new bond debt for borough projects, with repayment covered by property taxes. Brown said this approach would allow the borough to address infrastructure needs created by the region’s growing population while keeping bond-related property tax rates stable by cycling in new debt as old debt is paid off.

The road construction proposal is one of two bond ballot measures that will appear before voters in November. A second measure asks voters to approve nearly $60 million in building construction costs for three district charter schools.

-- Amy Bushatz can be contacted at abushatz@matsusentinel.com.