This past Monday morning, I heard the sirens. Many sirens. Then I learned about the terrible head-on crash on the Parks Highway near Petersville Road. Tragically, two people died, and their toddler was medevacked to Anchorage. The highway was closed for more than five hours.

I’ve spent years fighting to reopen the Talkeetna State Trooper post, get an EMS station in Willow, and lower the speed limit at that intersection. Whether any of those things would have saved those two people, we don’t know. But the responding troopers had to come from somewhere else, leaving fewer available in Big Lake, Houston, Willow, and around Wasilla. That’s what happens when something goes wrong north of Willow. We don’t have a trooper post up there. We borrow coverage.

The Talkeetna post closed in 2016 to save about $80,000 a year. Eighty thousand dollars. Since then, troopers have handled roughly 2,500 calls a year in Talkeetna, Trapper Creek, and Willow, often responding from 45 minutes or more away. Even under the best conditions, the Department of Public Safety says response times can run 30 to 45 minutes. Sometimes it’s hours.

Governor Dunleavy has twice proposed reopening the post. His latest request was $2.4 million for a sergeant, three troopers, a wildlife trooper, and a technician. The House approved it in 2025, but the Senate removed it. This year, the majority coalition left it out entirely.

The Talkeetna post is still closed. The people who die on this highway come from Fairbanks, Anchorage, the Kenai, the Valley, and the Lower 48.

So, in April, I brought Amendment 4 to the House floor, using $2 million in ANWR lease revenue the state had already received. The federal share, Permanent Fund, and Public School Trust Fund were paid first. No new taxes, no cuts to other programs, and no hit to the PFD. Just money we already had to put four troopers and a sergeant back on the Parks Highway.

It failed 19 to 21. Most of the no votes came from Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Fairbanks families drive this highway to Anchorage for medical appointments, Costco, and flights Outside. Anchorage families drive north to Denali, their cabins, and the rivers. Much of the freight stocking Fairbanks stores comes up this road, and plenty of the legislators who voted no drive it themselves. They know what’s out there between Willow and Cantwell, and what’s missing.

They voted no anyway. Caucus first, Alaskans second.

One excuse I keep hearing is that the Mat-Su should pay for its own police. That’s nonsense. The Parks Highway is a state highway, and patrolling it is the responsibility of the Alaska State Troopers, not the borough.

On May 28, the Fairbanks North Star Borough mayor told the House Finance Committee his borough doesn’t have public safety powers either. Outside the city of Fairbanks, they depend on state troopers, just as we do outside Wasilla and Palmer. So, trooper coverage is the state’s responsibility in Fairbanks, but somehow the Mat-Su should pay for its own? Why?

Anchorage has its own double standard. When the administration shifted $18.7 million in federal highway safety money from Anchorage projects to the Mat-Su and Fairbanks, an Anchorage senator called it outrageous and threatened to examine the department’s funding. Apparently, moving highway money out of Anchorage is outrageous, but leaving 60 miles of the Parks Highway without a trooper post isn’t worth mentioning.

We’ve been talking about this for ten years. We’ve buried too many people along that highway.

On Labor Day 2018, four people died in a crash north of Byers Lake, including a 5-year-old girl. Two victims were from Fairbanks. Bystanders, including nurses, performed CPR while waiting at least 45 minutes for emergency help. A trooper lieutenant said afterward that troopers had no presence in the area.

That was eight years ago. The road has gotten busier, but the Talkeetna post is still closed. The people who die on this highway come from Fairbanks, Anchorage, the Kenai, the Valley, and the Lower 48. It’s everybody’s road, but many legislators keep voting like it’s somebody else’s problem.

Money alone won’t fix this. In March, Public Safety Commissioner Jim Cockrell told a Senate finance subcommittee the Talkeetna post should reopen, but the department lacked troopers and funding. As of October 2024, 14 of B Detachment’s 72 trooper and wildlife trooper positions were vacant.

Starting pay for an Alaska trooper is already $97,365, higher than Vermont, North Dakota, or Wyoming. Pay isn’t the whole problem. Vacancies mean more overtime, longer drives, and more time away from families. Troopers burn out and leave, making the shortage worse. We need to know why they’re leaving and how to keep them.

This week, I asked Commissioner Cockrell how long it took troopers and EMS to reach Monday’s crash, what it has cost to cover the Upper Susitna Valley from Wasilla since 2016, and why troopers are leaving. Did we save that $80,000, or just spend it on overtime, fuel, and mileage? What do the exit interviews tell us?

DOT announced a summer speed study for the Talkeetna and Trapper Creek area this year. I asked Commissioner Ryan Anderson whether it happened or whether we were ignored again, and what can be done at Petersville Road this winter. I’ve asked both commissioners for written answers before the Trapper Creek Community Council meets November 19.

To my colleagues from Anchorage and Fairbanks: You drive this road. Your constituents drive this road. Your families drive this road. When somebody is standing on the shoulder north of Willow, waiting for help that’s an hour away, the trooper who arrives won’t ask what borough they live in.

Neither should you.

The budget comes back in January. I’ll bring the numbers, a staffing plan, and another amendment to reopen the Talkeetna post. Alaskans from Anchorage to Fairbanks should watch who votes yes and who votes no.

We’ve been talking about this for ten years. We’ve buried too many people along that highway. We know the problem and the solution. It’s time to quit making excuses and get it done.

The views expressed here are those of the author.

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