A Mat-Su safety survey could help secure federal funds for future road improvements
The survey is open through Friday and focuses on the experiences of the region's most vulnerable road users.
What you need to know:
- A road safety survey by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough seeks input from residents as part of a project to justify federal funding for future road and pathway improvements. The survey is open through Friday.
- The survey will help officials develop a plan that could include safety improvements such as bike lanes and better lighting, officials said. A $480,000 federal grant is funding the survey and planning work.
- The project and survey focus on pedestrian and cyclist experiences because they are among the most vulnerable road users, officials said.
PALMER – Details submitted through a borough road survey that closes later this week will be used by local planners to justify federal funding for future road and trail improvements, officials said – and project leaders want your help.
The Safe Streets for All survey is open to Matanuska-Susitna Borough road users through Friday. It asks for feedback on safety issues and priorities in Mat-Su, with an emphasis on cyclists and pedestrians.
A borough contractor will combine that input with historical vehicle crash data to develop a plan that can later be submitted to federal officials, said Jamie Taylor, a project manager leading the process for the borough's public works department. If approved, the multimillion-dollar projects could include improvements such as bike lanes or better lighting on pedestrian paths, she said.
The survey and upcoming report are partially funded by a $480,000 grant from the federal Department of Transportation, which required borough officials to contribute about $100,000 toward the project, according to federal documents.
The borough awarded a $559,000 contract to Anchorage-based consulting firm Michael Baker International to conduct the study and prepare related plans, according to borough documents. That work must be completed by April, according to the documents.
Taylor said the goal of the project is to improve safety for both motorized and nonmotorized users. But because bicyclists and pedestrians are the most vulnerable, the study will focus heavily on the experiences of those groups.
“Pedestrians and bicyclists are ... not in a vehicle, and so if they are involved in an accident, they’re more likely to have a serious injury or fatality. That’s important,” she said. “It’s not intended to be at the expense of other road users since the plan is supposed to improve safety for everybody.”
Nadara Williams, 79, died near Big Lake in early July when she was struck by Brendan Clark of Anchorage as he illegally operated a vehicle on one of the area's bike paths, police said. Clark has been charged with criminally negligent homicide, according to court records. A trial is scheduled for October in Palmer.
About 10,300 vehicle crashes occurred on Mat-Su roads from 2013 to 2022, according to borough data. Of those, 135 involved a pedestrian or bicyclist, including 10 fatalities.
Taylor said that while the current survey is not directly related to a borough bicycle and pedestrian plan approved by the assembly last fall, planners will likely use projects identified in that plan to help prioritize federal funding requests.
Transportation users can access the survey on the borough's website. An interactive virtual workshop will be available on the site beginning Sept. 24, and a draft plan is expected to be released in mid-December, Taylor said.
-- Amy Bushatz can be contacted at abushatz@matsusentinel.com.
