Mayor and assembly needs to get out of denial and deal with the traffic problems in Anchorage.
Amid the flurry of red light runners and other alleged scofflaws there is a deeper fault here. I believe Anchorage drivers in general are not criminals by birth but maybe by default; they are tired of waiting for ill timed traffic signals on badly planned streets. Traffic control and flow methods are grossly lacking in Anchorage. This shortfall causes frustrated drivers to push the envelope of safety to try to make that amber light.
City lights have been installed over the years by myriad contractors who didn't seem to consider the big picture of traffic flow. That is why the downtown lights are timed together but don't balance with the A Street/ C Street corridor, which conflicts with Northern Lights and Benson and so on, all over town. Why won't the mayor and the assembly call on the city traffic engineers to coordinate the lights so traffic can flow with the demand? Additionally, many left-turn arrows could be changed to "yield on green", lights at minor intersections can be set to flashing red/amber during the off hours etc.
Work on Arctic at 36th took two and a half years blocking the route for the summers and now we have an ill conceived three lane intersection along with a three lane street that is sure to be the cause of accidents or jam ups. OMG now there's talk of doing the same to Spenard Road. Dimond and C Street is finally done after two summers plus of narrow lanes and hundreds of traffic cones. I like the round-abouts; they just sit there and work better that any stop sign or light. That may be what's needed at Tudor and Lake Otis: bite the bullet and put in some pedestrian walk overs and a double round-about with an over pass ala C street and O'Malley.
City lights have been installed over the years by myriad contractors who didn't seem to consider the big picture of traffic flow. That is why the downtown lights are timed together but don't balance with the A Street/ C Street corridor, which conflicts with Northern Lights and Benson and so on, all over town. Why won't the mayor and the assembly call on the city traffic engineers to coordinate the lights so traffic can flow with the demand? Additionally, many left-turn arrows could be changed to "yield on green", lights at minor intersections can be set to flashing red/amber during the off hours etc.
Work on Arctic at 36th took two and a half years blocking the route for the summers and now we have an ill conceived three lane intersection along with a three lane street that is sure to be the cause of accidents or jam ups. OMG now there's talk of doing the same to Spenard Road. Dimond and C Street is finally done after two summers plus of narrow lanes and hundreds of traffic cones. I like the round-abouts; they just sit there and work better that any stop sign or light. That may be what's needed at Tudor and Lake Otis: bite the bullet and put in some pedestrian walk overs and a double round-about with an over pass ala C street and O'Malley.
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