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Fix It First | Safety | Public Transportation | Non-Road/Non-Motorized-Transportation | Climate Change

Each year, dozens of people die on dangerous sections of Alaska's roads. In urban areas, drivers waste time waiting to get through congested intersections, walkers and bicyclists are injured or killed by vehicles, and public transportation is very limited. In rural areas, dust from unpaved roads leaves kids coughing with asthma. Earthquakes, avalanches, thawing permafrost, thousands of islands, several mountain chains, and the vastness of Alaska create unique transportation challenges. To meet these challenges, the State of Alaska must invest in environmentally-appropriate, cost-effective, transportation improvements.

A serious avalanche shut down the road to Whittier for several weeks in 2009.

Because the vast majority of money for new transportation projects, or "capital" projects, historically came from federal tax dollars, Alaskans often viewed these projects as "free." The truth is that capital funding for mega-projects comes at the expense of other long-awaited improvements to Alaska's existing transportation system. Additionally, federal funding for transportation projects is in decline due to reduced earmarks (at least in part caused by the national reaction against Alaska's Knik Arm and Gravina "bridges to nowhere") and ongoing depletion of the  Highway Trust Fund which provides states with federal money from taxes on transportation fuels such as gasoline.

Once transportation infrastructure is built, state and local governments must keep roads, bridges, sidewalks, and trails plowed and maintained and public transportation operated and maintained. Much of the maintenance money in Alaska comes from federal dollars. As noted above, federal dollars are in decline, so Alaska needs to develop a mechanism to pay for ongoing and emergency maintenance in the future. Additionally, Alaska is one of the few states that does not provide operating funds for public transportation (except ferries), so the state needs a means to pay for that as well.

Fix it First

Status of the Federal Highway Trust Fund.
As Of September, 2009 Click to view the graph

The Parnell Administration faces an expensive but important task – to maintain and preserve the state's existing transportation infrastructure at a time of decreasing federal funding. Unlike other states, Alaska relies on federal funding to pay for state and local roads (rather than property or sales taxes paying for local roads, as in other states). As shown in the graph at right, Congress in 2008 and 2009 had to supplement the Highway Trust Fund with additional money not derived from fuel taxes.

Alaska also needs to fix road culverts that are undersized or fail to allow fish passage, especially in the Kenai Peninsula Borough and other coastal areas where more salmon spawning means more commercial and sport-fishing revenue. Similarly, in areas with significant wildlife-vehicle collisions, as in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, the state needs to spend transportation dollars to mitigate those problems.

Click here to view an outstanding video clip showing the consequences that can result from undersized culverts. The scene was captured by WMTW TV chief photojournalist Kevyn Fowler, in August of 2008, near Freeport, Maine.

According to the American Society of Civil Engineers (2009):

• 46% of Alaska's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.
• 35% of Alaska's bridges are structurally-deficient or functionally obsolete.

Before building new bridges and roads into unpopulated areas – bridges and roads that were rejected previously because they were costly and unneeded – the state should focus on improving the road, public transportation, and ferry systems serving existing communities so they are safer and do a more efficient job of moving people and goods.

Increase Safety

While the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (Alaska DOT) has devoted increased resources in recent years to improve safety on the state's roads, there still are significant safety concerns. One of the roads of particular concern is the Seward Highway between Anchorage and Girdwood; click here for a good summary article from 2009 in the Anchorage Daily News.

Top roads with safety challenges are shown in the following chart:

Public Transportation

Public transportation, or transit, in Alaska is operated by local governments or by for-profit or non-profit agencies. Unlike most states, Alaska does not provide any operating funds for transit which means that transit must compete with local priorities like schools, police, and firefighting for funding despite that fact that use of transit lowers state and local road and bridge maintenance needs and costs. Note that the federal government funds Alaska ferry transportation through both the Federal Transit Administration and the Federal Highway Administration.

Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau operate fixed-route bus systems. Other communities operate paratransit, which consists of transit vehicles that do not stop only at fixed locations. Because of its higher cost, paratransit often is used largely by disabled passengers who cannot use fixed-route buses.

Between the Mat-Su Borough and Anchorage on the Glenn Highway, there also is extensive private vanpool traffic which significantly reduces congestion on the highway and makes driving safer. This route also has the potential for commuter rail along existing Alaska Railroad tracks.

Improve Non-Road and Non-Motorized Transportation

In many places in Alaska, roads are the most logical way to connect communities. Alaska’s unique geography and low population density, however, often dictates more creative, non-road transportation solutions. Among the island communities of Alaska’s coast, ferry service makes the most sense. Currently, 33 communities and over 100,000 Alaskans are directly served by the ferry system, also known as the Alaska Marine Highway System.

In areas in the far north, posting signs along snowmachine trails connecting villages saves lives as fewer people will get lost. Port and boat harbor improvements are critical investments for Alaska’s fishing-dependent communities. In many rural communities, airport improvements are essential because the communities rely on air and water only for supplies.

In Alaska’s more urban communities, promoting non-motorized - principally walking and bicycling - transportation makes sense to combat congestion cost-effectively, vehicle pollution, and obesity among children and adults. This will require having a non-motorized transportation coordinator in each of the three Alaska DOT regions to ensure that transportation projects incorporate non-motorized transportation components. Along the same lines, Alaska needs to spend its $1 million in annual federal funding for its Safe Routes to School walking/bicycling program wisely. Additionally, Anchorage currently is developing a non-motorized transportation plan consisting of new pedestrian and bicycling plans which emphasize non-recreational travel and an updated areawide trails plan. ATPP and several organizations in Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough are working to increase funding for non-motorized transportation in the region through the Alaska Campaign for Active Transportation: Anchorage, Palmer and Wasilla, Alaska (2008).

Address Climate Change

Approximately one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions nationwide and in Alaska come from transportation. The majority of Alaska’s greenhouse gas emissions are from aviation.

Particularly in Alaska's two areas with air quality planning organizations, Anchorage and Fairbanks, steps can be taken to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT), the key contributor of greenhouse gas emissions from surface transportation. These steps include coordinating land use planning and transportation so new development (e.g., new governmental buildings and new malls) is focused on higher-density areas with walking, bicycling, and public transportation options. Transit-oriented development, infill development and redevelopment of “brownfield” (already disturbed or previously developed) sites, smart school siting, and pedestrian and bicycling oriented urban design will result in quantifiable VMT savings.

An excellent resource for integrating land use and transportation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is: Integrating Transportation, Energy Efficiency, and GHG Reduction Policies: A Guidebook for State and Local Policy Makers (2007) from the Center for Clean Air Policy (Login required).