Anchorage road safety projects are set to receive more than $30 million, after the state reversed course on a widely-criticized funding decision.
Susanne Fleek-Green is chief of staff to the Anchorage mayor. She said the money provides a huge opportunity to improve safety in the city. Anchorage has recorded a record number of pedestrian deaths in recent years.
“If you look at the numbers in terms of where vehicle crashes happen and where pedestrian injuries happen, they're in Anchorage,” she said.
The city and state Department of Transportation announced the funding in a joint statement Tuesday. DOT spokesperson Shannon McCarthy said the pushback from lawmakers and officials motivated the department to find a way to move the projects forward.
“Sometimes when you receive criticism and feedback from your partners, it's an opportunity,” she said. “It's an opportunity to take a look and see, ‘You know what, what can you do? Can we put pressure on ourselves to deliver something faster?’”
Last month DOT pulled nearly $20 million for Anchorage-area projects from a statewide traffic safety plan. At the time, McCarthy said it was because there wasn’t enough federal funding to go around.
Now the department is essentially spotting itself the money – using funding it knows it’ll get in the future to pay for projects now. Once DOT decided to use that funding method, McCarthy said, there were few more safety projects it wanted to green light and it reassessed the costs. That’s why the number jumped from nearly $20 million to more than $30 million.
The now-funded projects include increased lighting on Gambell Street and more traffic lights on A Street. Northern Lights Boulevard will see wider sidewalks, fewer lanes and a lower speed limit.
DOT did not reinstate all of the projects it pulled from the list in December. McCarthy said where plans called for the elimination of lanes, DOT plans to do more analysis to make sure there’s no chance of adverse effects. One such study was completed this month, and DOT is now moving forward with a lane drop on A Street.
Besides the federally-funded projects, the Anchorage safety plan also includes some new state-funded projects. Those include speed feedback signs on Debarr Road, enhanced lighting at high-risk intersections and pedestrian fencing on Ingra and Gambell streets.
McCarthy said she knows pedestrian fencing can be unpopular with the public. The department plans to do a lot of outreach to educate the public on the safety benefits, she said.
“Putting fencing up does change access, and there can be frustration with the public about that access,” she said. “But we know that separating pedestrians from travel lanes makes areas safer.”
DOT is requesting $2 million from the state for those projects. The money is part of a supplemental budget request which would need to be signed by the state Legislature and the governor.
