Regional MPO asks Wasilla to nominate projects as $10M per-year funding begins

Kim Solian, executive director of Mat Su Valley Planning for Transportation, told the Wasilla City Council that the organization — formed after the 2020 census designated the region as urbanized — will call for project nominations beginning Jan. 28.

"My name is Kim Solian, and I'm the executive director of Mat Su Valley Planning for Transportation," Solian said. She described MVP as the federally required metropolitan planning organization for the Mat-Su urbanized area and urged the city to work with Public Works staff, chiefly Eric Schell, to nominate projects.

Solian said MVP expects roughly $10,000,000 a year to program and that the metropolitan transportation plan (MTP) must be fiscally constrained over a 20-year horizon. "So if you think about $250,000,000 now we're talking," she said, noting that projects must be listed in the MTP for federal funds to be spent on them.

Why it matters: the MTP guides how federal transportation dollars are programmed and sets multi‑modal priorities — not only roads but transit, bicycle and pedestrian projects. Solian said MVP has completed vision and goals, the existing conditions and deficiency reports, and an interactive comment map with about 175 public comments.

Council members pressed for attention to local commerce in the goals. Councilmember Graham said he wanted the plan to explicitly mention preserving access to businesses; Solian replied that MVP's first goal — to align transportation improvements with local land use and connect housing to employment — is intended to cover support for businesses and economic development.

What's next: nominations open Jan. 28 online and will be evaluated using a technical scoring matrix before the policy board selects projects. Solian said the nomination window will be at least 30 days and could be extended to 60 days depending on the pace of responses. Councilmember Crafton asked for a Committee of the Whole work session so council and administration can discuss candidate projects before nominations are finalized.

The council did not take formal action at the meeting; MVP requested the city submit prioritized nominations through established public-works channels.