It’s time for Page Two: News that might not make the front page for Tuesday March 17, 2026.
It’s going to get warm. Not tomorrow. Not the next day. But soon.
Winter will go away. Breakup will come. The frozen land will thaw. The snow will melt. Ice in the soil will turn to water. That means mud. Soft, mushy, mud. Under roads.
And if you are a heavy-machinery operator, both the borough and the state would like to keep you off the roads for a month or so until the ground dries out and the roads are strong again.
Both the borough and the state enforce weight restrictions on heavy machinery during breakup.
But last month the Borough Assembly waived some of those restrictions.
Under the new law, some heavy equipment drivers can be waived from weight restrictions for a day. Drivers with non-detachable equipment can pay the borough $100 for a one-day waiver on weight restrictions.
Assembly member Stephanie Nowers views this as a problem for taxpayers. “Half the damage to the lifetime of a road can be during breakup,” she says. “And one heavy truck equals 9,000 private vehicles.” She says that these restrictions are just part of what it means to live in the north.
She notes that the $100 fee doesn’t come close to paying for the damage that heavy machinery does to soft roads. Taxpayers will be stuck paying to repair the damage.
Supporters of the new law argue that road damage is just a part of doing business in the Valley. They say that fire trucks and school buses don’t stop using roads during breakup. Why should heavy machinery drivers be any different? They also argue that drivers are going to break the law anyway. So why bother with restrictions?
The issue is complicated because some roads are subject to state regulations and some roads are subject to borough regulations. State roads are built to higher standards. They can withstand more weight than borough roads. Still, the state restricts some loads during breakup.
It’s hard to go anywhere in the borough without driving on both state and borough roads. That means that it’s likely that a driver with a waiver will be out of compliance when driving on state roads.
Tonight Nowers is making a final attempt for weight restrictions on roads during breakup. She’s introducing an amendment to current law that would allow waivers only for emergency uses, like septic tank repair. Permits would not be issued for economic convenience.
This will be Nower’s third attempt to convince the Assembly to pump the brakes on the new breakup law.
Stream the audio of the meeting from bigcabbageradio.org starting at 6 p.m.
Come to a free family activity day for children 5 and under is tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bryce ray Community Center Gym 710 E bogard Rd. in Wasilla.
The Pioneer Amateur Hockey Association is sponsoring a Family Skate Night at the MTA Event Center in Palmer from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. tomorrow.
Will Balco plays the Palmer Ale House Unplugged on Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m.
Tomorrow on Big Cabbage Radio:
Callen Christensen, Unaatuq Agricultural Manager, talks about farming at Pilgrim Hot Springs near Nome with host Ken Hoffman on Ag Matters at 7:30 a.m., repeating at 5:30 p.m.
Peter House from Deep Tree talks about current cybersecurity threats at 8 a.m., repeating at 5 p.m.
Page 2 airs weekdays at 7 a.m., 9 a.m., 11:50 a.m., and 6 p.m.
Tune in at 89.7 in Palmer, 89.5 in Sutton, 88.3 in Glacier View or online at bigcabbage.radio.org.
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This Page Two article was written by David Cheezem and read by Lee Henrikson. If you have an idea for a Page 2 topic, please email us at page2@radiofreepalmer.org.
That’s it for today and the news on Page Two on Tuesday March 17. 2026.