Speak Up For Safe Streets: Submit Your Comments Now

Anchorage has faced a tragic spate of pedestrian fatalities on state-owned roads this month; in the span of just one week, four people were hit and killed by drivers while they were crossing the street. These roads were designed to move as many cars, as quickly as possible, and they have become deadly for people walking and biking. Anchorage's rate of traffic violence is alarmingly high, and this has to change.

Our Call to Action

On Wednesday, Bike Anchorage sent a letter to the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) calling for urgent action. We outlined the key factors contributing to these recent fatalities and offered practical, proven solutions to improve road safety for all users - including those who walk, bike, take transit, and drive. Here’s a summary of the most critical points:

Key Factors Contributing to Dangerous Roads:

1. Road design that prioritizes car speed over pedestrian safety.
2. Lack of frequent, safe crossings, forcing pedestrians to take risks.
3. High-speed traffic and wide roads, which increase the likelihood and severity of crashes.

Solutions That Work
Approaches like telling pedestrians to wear more reflective clothing, or stepping up police patrols to issue more speeding citations, only address the symptoms without solving the root cause. Instead, we're advocating for the implementation of safety countermeasures proven by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to prevent traffic violence and save lives. These include:

• Reducing vehicle speeds by implementing low-cost, quick-build road diets that naturally enforce safer speeds.
• Installing more frequent crosswalks and pedestrian beacons, improving their function, and protecting pedestrians when they're in the crosswalk.
• Adding protected bike lanes and other bike/pedestrian infrastructure that creates safe routes and also calms traffic.

While some of these solutions are directly under DOT&PF's control, others will require collaboration with the Municipality of Anchorage. Therefore, we also called on DOT&PF to make administrative changes to better coordinate with the Municipality and unlock access to funding and resources for long-delayed safety projects.

What Can You Do?

We need your voice. DOT&PF needs to hear from the people who use these roads every day—the people who walk, bike, or use transit. You can help by sending your own message to DOT&PF calling for safer streets. Feel free to reference the points we raised in our letter, or share your personal experience. Whether you've felt unsafe crossing a busy road or unwelcome riding your bike alongside speeding vehicles, your story matters.

Click here to access our template letter, or write your own.

This is a time of change, and with your support, we can help create a safer, more accessible community for everyone. Let’s work together to ensure no more lives are lost on our streets.

Only have time to skim? Here’s what you need to know:

Benefits of Ebikes: Ebikes facilitate commuting, carrying loads, and inclusive mobility for underrepresented groups, older adults, and people with disabilities.

Regulatory Framework: Our community needs to adopt the industry-standard three-class system to categorize ebikes for consistent and clear regulation across jurisdictions.

Current Gaps: Alaska lacks a regulatory framework following the veto of HB 8, and Anchorage's outdated ebike definition needs alignment with the three-class system.

Safety and Public Perception: We’ll bust common myths about ebike speeds and their impact on trail safety, emphasizing the necessity of data collection on ebike usage and speeds to inform policy.

Infrastructure Recommendations: Expanding and improving trails and on-street bike infrastructure is essential to ensure safe and accessible routes for all cyclists, including ebike users.

This March, Bike Anchorage had the exciting opportunity to attend the National Bike Summit held in Washington, DC. This annual gathering brings together passionate bike advocates from across the nation to connect, network, and delve into the latest advancements in bike policy and funding. It was an inspiring experience for our team, and we're eager to share the highlights of our journey with you.

One of the first things that struck us upon arriving in Washington, DC, was the impressive network of bike infrastructure woven throughout the city. With an extensive variety of bike lanes and abundant bike-sharing stations, the city's commitment to prioritizing cycling as a mode of transportation was evident at every turn. This infrastructure really inspired us as we look forward to Anchorage's first bidirectional protected bike lane coming to downtown this summer—a transformative development toward safe, accessible cycling in our city.

During our visit, we biked to the Capitol to meet with Alaska's Senators and Representative. In these meetings, we shared updates on the initiatives we're spearheading to make Anchorage a more bike-friendly city. We discussed the importance of better bike policies and increased funding at the federal level, advocating for measures that will benefit cyclists not only in Anchorage but across the country. All of our members of Congress voiced their support for biking, and we're hopeful to see them again this summer at one of our group rides along the new protected bike lane!

None of this would have been possible without the generous support of our donors and supporters. We set a fundraising goal of $1000 to cover the costs of our travel to the National Bike Summit, and thanks to your incredible generosity, we not only met but exceeded that goal. We are immensely grateful for your contributions and belief in our mission. Your support has empowered us to amplify our advocacy efforts and drive positive change for cyclists in Anchorage.

As we return home from the National Bike Summit, we carry with us a wealth of knowledge, inspiration, and renewed determination to make Anchorage a better, more bike-friendly city. We are excited to leverage the insights gained from this experience and put them into action, working collaboratively with our community partners and local stakeholders to create a safer, more accessible cycling environment for all.

Once again, we extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this trip possible. Together, we will continue to pedal towards a brighter future for cycling in Anchorage!

WE NEED YOUR HELP CONNECTING ANCHORAGE TO THE BIRD-TO-GIRD TRAIL

Commenters like YOU needed!

CONNECTING ANCHORAGE TO THE BIRD-TO-GIRD TRAIL

Summer 2020, Bike Anchorage commented on a planned Alaska DOT project to upgrade the Seward Highway at Windy Corner MP105-107 (2 miles). At that time, DOT’s plans did not include the construction of a separated path along the highway, even though the stated intent was to build a path there at some point in the future. The Project Team stated that right-of-way was being made for a path, not actually building room along the corridor. Despite the massive work planned to widen the highway, blast large sections of cliff, and move the railroad, the additional work to construct the 10 foot path was not deemed valuable.

A major project update: “Windy Corner to Rainbow Point (MP105-109.5)”

But now there’s some good news! Following extensive community feedback, DOT has updated the project to include “considering” constructing a path. This is especially good news because the updated project has been extended by 2.5 miles and will now cover the stretch between the Falls Creek Trailhead and Rainbow Trailhead. 

Project map from http://www.windycorner.info/ 

Building a separated pathway makes even more sense now that the project is longer (4.5 miles), and would also provide an option to travel between the two trailheads without getting back in your car. Improving safety is a major stated goal of this project, and including the separated pathway is crucial to realize that goal.

Building the path on this section is also the next essential step toward connecting Anchorage to the popular Bird to Gird Trail. This project spans 4.5 miles of the remaining 12-mile gap from Potter Marsh (Old Seward Hwy) to Indian rd, where the separated pathway currently starts. We would love to have the option of biking all the way from home to Girdwood without ever having to get on the highway shoulder!

The Bird to Gird Trail (above) is a safe, quiet, and scenic route that is MUCH more welcoming than the highway shoulder.

The highway shoulder at the project site (above). note the gavel and highway debris that narrow any width shoulders down to 2-feet.   

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

DOT has opened a new period for public comment on this updated project. Please submit a written comment any time before July 15th. Comments can be sent to:

Tom Schmid, P.E. - Project Manager

DOT&PF Central Region Preliminary Design & Environmental

P.O. Box 196900

Anchorage, AK 99519-6900

Email: [email protected] 

More personalized comments are better. Although written comments do not need to be long or detailed - you can simply state that you are in favor of constructing a separated path along the highway corridor with the Windy to Rainbow project. Bike Anchorage will be preparing a detailed letter after the open house, and we’ll make it publicly available before the July 15th deadline in case you’d like to get some ideas for your own comment.

Example Arguments DOWL and DOT are using against building pathway that you can address: 
1. The Project/pathway doesn't connect to the Bird to Gird so it shouldn't be built. 
      -This is frustrating because DOT just built a Bird to Gird pathway extension in a project that went to MP 105 (the end of Windy Corner project), but left out building a pathway all the way to that mile point. This was a critical link knowing this pathway was a needed link. We know the highway is built in sections and each mile of pathway is critical. Building the pathway with this project is much cheaper and more likely to happen than a special pathway project in the distant future.

2. The Pathway will send users into the highway.
      -We know that engineers and designers can make plenty of small and temporary pathway adjustments to warn and stop regular pathway users from "accidentally" walking into the highway. There are also roads and driveways that the project could connect to, giving those residents access to safe walking and bikein facilities.

3. People biking the highway will have wider shoulders so they should be happy. 
     - adding 4.5 of pathway to the 12 remaining miles of highway without pathway will dramatically improve safety and comfort of users. We know even the widest of shoulders get buried in gavel and force people on bike close to high speed vehicles (see photo above).  

Thanks for reading and commenting. See you on the trails!

Bike Anchorage is excited to offer Smart Cycling for anyone in the community (ages 16+) that are looking to improve their bicycle skills. The class will take place on Monday 6/21 and Wednesday 6/23 from 5:30 to 8:30 PM.

Monday's class will be held virtually and will cover topics like bike fit, maintenance, and rules of the road. Wednesday will be an outdoor in-person and on-bike session where we will practice bike skills and on-street riding (the specific location is still to be defined).

All attendees will need a working bicycle and a helmet to participate, if you don't have a helmet, we can provide one if you need it.  

The cost for this two-day class is $20 and it includes printed educational materials. If cost is a barrier, we ask you to email [email protected] for scholarship information. All proceeds will benefit Bike Anchorage. 

How to know if this course it's for you? 

The Smart Cycling Class is a curriculum created by The League of American Bicyclists and can only be taught by certified League Cycling Instructors. This curriculum is designed to develop the confidence and competence of a bicycle rider. Students will learn about choosing a bicycle, basic parts of a bike, essential equipment, as well as how to safely and comfortably ride your bike in various traffic conditions, terrain and climates.  

Here at Bike Anchorage, we love bike infrastructure. Although we strongly recognize that Anchorage must modernize and move towards all-ability bike ways networks, we are glad when the Muni or DOT builds bike paths or bike lanes on Anchorage roads. But once any infrastructure is built, it needs to be maintained in order to be usable. A major problem this spring has been the large amounts of gravel remaining on bike routes long past the time the snow has melted. When a path, shoulder, or bike lane is full of gravel, people on bikes must either ride through the gravel - running the risk of encountering unpredictably deep piles or picking up debris that can cause tire punctures - or ride directly in the lane used by motorized traffic, where cars have already cleared the gravel out of the lane. Either choice is unnecessarily dangerous.

The arterial roads maintained by the Municipality were all swept by May 15th - hooray! Unfortunately, some arterial roads (and their adjacent separated paths) maintained by DOT have remained unswept long past their May 15th deadline. This has included roads like Raspberry Rd that have marked bike lanes and are major bike corridors. On May 18th, we asked DOT when Raspberry Rd would be swept, but they didn’t have any information about when their contractor would clear that road. 

In this video, we checked out the gravel remaining on the Raspberry Rd bike lanes on May 25th and put ourselves to work in sweeping some of the most dangerous areas.

How you can help:

Whether you're a person who drives, rolls, or both, we are urging community members interested in equitable transportation policy to call or email our Anchorage Maintenance and Operation District Superintendent: 
[email protected] (907) 338-1466. Tell DOT to SweepMyRide and prioritize bike routes for spring sweeping to improve safety for all road users.