Mat-Su landfill says automated lane should reduce entrance delays

What you need to know:

• The Mat-Su landfill plans to open a trash-only automated lane this month that officials say should reduce intermittent delays at the new entrance.
• The new entrance is processing customers faster overall, but certified weigh-ins can cause significant backups because each takes about 10 minutes. Officials are exploring ways to move those transactions off the main entrance scale.
• Some landfill users have complained about confusing navigation and a tall barrier in the new drop-off area. Officials have ordered larger signs and say the barrier is taller than the previous one because of safety requirements.
• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

PALMER — Mat-Su landfill users should see fewer intermittent delays at the facility’s new entrance starting this month when officials open a new automated lane that lets customers use a credit card to check themselves in and out of the dumping area.

The new landfill entrance opened late last month and is designed to speed transaction times through a new scale, transaction and lane system, and reduce traffic backups into the residential area by shifting the gates more than a mile southwest. The area also uses a new looped traffic flow meant to make entering and exiting less confusing.

But some customers complained of extended delays at the new entrance. Others said there are no clear directions on where to go once they get in and that the roadway is too confusing or too narrow.

Matanuska-Susitna Borough Solid Waste Manager Jeff Smith said the backups are primarily caused by two problems: some individual transactions are taking slightly longer than in the past because of customer questions about the new dumping area, and some customers use the entrance scale for certified weight tickets.

“The biggest problem we had is lots of people asking lots and lots of questions,” Smith said. “I believe that'll improve in time because people are starting to ask fewer questions and are more familiar with everything.”

Smith said he is working at the entrance kiosk several days each week to see how things are going and what needs to change to improve the process.

Workers using the new entrance and payment system are now processing 1.3 customers per minute, up from 0.8 per minute at the old entrance, he said. About 7,300 vehicles have used the new gates since the area opened Aug. 27, he said.

Processing times should improve further when a new trash-only automated lane opens this month. Users will scan their credit cards at the entrance and again when they exit. The scales will tally the weight, and users will be charged the minimum $15 fee for up to 200 pounds.

Customers who want to pay per bag or who have different types of loads, including tires, must use the staff kiosk, Smith said.

The automated lane won’t address another source of delays: customers who need certified weight tickets.

Each weigh-in takes about 10 minutes, and drivers stuck behind someone getting a certified weight have no choice but to wait their turn.

Weight tickets are used by some customers to log their loads or by members of the military who get paid for a household move based on weight. Each weigh-in costs $20. The Central Landfill is the only facility in the area that provides the service, Smith said.

“The other day when I was working the scale, I had two people in a matter of 10 cars that needed certified weights,” he said. “That means the 11th car had to wait 25 to 30 minutes.”

Smith said he doesn’t want to stop offering weigh-ins or change the hours they are available. He said he is exploring ways to move certified weigh-ins off the main entrance kiosk scale but doesn’t yet have a workable plan.

Delays aren’t the only concern customers have raised about the new area. Some have also complained about navigating the new drop-off area, which is supposed to provide a cleaner flow of traffic. Others said a barrier between where users park their vehicles and dump trash is too tall.

Smith said the barrier is taller than the one used in the previous area because of safety regulations designed to keep customers from falling into the trash area, known as a tipping floor. At least one customer fell into the previous pit, he said. While the landfill has small signs directing customers where to go, officials have also ordered bigger ones.

The new gates and entrance area cost $6.5 million. The project was paid for through grants and landfill user fees, not local taxpayer funding, borough officials said.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com