Three Anchorage Assembly members are calling on state and local governments to take action to reduce the number of pedestrians killed by drivers — following six deaths just this month.
Assembly vice chair Meg Zaletel is among the members who plans to introduce a resolution during Tuesday night’s Assembly meeting to call for several changes, including installing more lights laid out in the federal Highway Safety Improvement Program.
“Providing adequate lighting, especially in our shoulder seasons, when the conditions are dark, is vital to safety in our winter city,” Zaletel said. “Second, we can lower speed limits by at least 10 miles an hour and not to exceed 35 miles an hour. The single most impactful risk to pedestrians is speed”
Zaletel’s resolution, which she co-sponsored with North Anchorage Assembly member Daniel Volland and East Anchorage member Karen Bronga, also calls for a public information campaign on pedestrian safety.
This September has been the deadliest month for fatal vehicle-pedestrian collisions in Anchorage in at least a dozen years. In total so far this year, drivers have killed 13 pedestrians, as young as 24 and as old as 79.
Most of the collisions happened at dusk or overnight and on a roadway where the speed limit is 45 mph or higher. And in nearly all cases, the person was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk.
North Anchorage Assembly member Daniel Volland said that’s because Anchorage streets are not well designed for pedestrians.
“I’m concerned that things are not convenient for pedestrians, and therefore they’re choosing to cross where they may not be supposed to,” Volland said.
The high number of fatal collisions comes almost a year after Assembly members approved a change to city code, introduced by Volland, that got rid of penalties for jaywalking. Volland said he doesn’t think the change is related to the high number of pedestrian fatalities, and said the change was made because enforcement of jaywalking fines wasn’t being done equitably, and he said a more comprehensive solution would be creating more pedestrian friendly infrastructure.
Anchorage roads are handled by the state and the city governments, and the two jurisdictions don’t always neatly line up, as many residents learned during delays to snow plowing last year.
Volland said the Assembly’s job is to listen to constituents, set policy and allocate funding. He said a bulk of the work needed to genuinely improve pedestrian safety will have to come from the mayor’s office and the state.
“Essentially we are calling to action the administration, the other branch of the municipality and our state partners, to say, ‘We need you to do something. We need you to make these corridors safer, now,’” Volland said.
Volland said there are some methods the Assembly can take to create safer streets for pedestrians. Among them is funding what he described as “traffic calming” infrastructure, like speed bumps, roundabouts and stop signs.
The Assembly could vote on and approve the resolution as early as Tuesday night.
Here’s what we know so far about this year’s fatal vehicle-pedestrian crashes:
Sept. 21: Crystal Anvil, 38, was struck by a car around 7:30 p.m. while crossing West Northern Lights Boulevard, near the Minnesota Drive intersection. She was crossing the westbound lanes, about 500 feet from a crosswalk, police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver remained on the scene and cooperated with officers, according to police.
Sept. 20: Ambrose Aguchak, 79, was struck by two different vehicles while crossing the Seward Highway, near East 36th Avenue, around 9 p.m. He was crossing the northbound lanes, about 500 feet from a crosswalk, police said. He was transported to a hospital where he was declared dead.
Sept. 13: Kaycie Martin, 24, was struck and killed by an SUV around 3:45 a.m. while crossing Minnesota Drive near 34th Avenue. Police say Martin was crossing outside of a crosswalk. The driver remained on the scene and cooperated with officers, police said.
Sept. 9: Lola Giles, 29, was struck and killed by a minivan along the Seward Highway just after 6 a.m., police said. The crash happened close to mile 108.5, near the Rainbow Trailhead. The driver remained on the scene and cooperated with officers, police said.
Sept. 8: Danielle Washington, 45, was struck and killed by an SUV around 6:35 a.m. while crossing Debarr Road, near Bragaw Street. Police say Washington was crossing outside of a crosswalk. The driver remained on the scene and cooperated with officers, police said.
Sept. 8: Shannon Wallner, 42, was struck and killed by a pickup truck around 12:30 a.m. Police say Wallner was in the roadway on Muldoon Road, near the East 6th Avenue intersection. The driver remained on the scene and cooperated with officers, police said.
May 20: Annie Berntsen, 33, was struck and killed by a sports car driving northbound at 6:15 p.m. while she was crossing A Street between Fireweed Lane and East 16th Avenue. She was not in a crosswalk, police said, and was declared dead at the scene. The driver, 40-year-old Larry Anderson Jr., left the scene without notifying police. He was later charged with driving with a revoked license, leaving the scene of an accident and failure to render aid.
April 20: Terry Alexie, 36, was standing in the roadway on Tudor Road, near the Seward Highway, when he was struck by an SUV at 12:15 a.m. He died at a hospital a week later. The driver remained on the scene and cooperated with officers, police said.
April 9: Phillip Lupie, 32, was struck by a car going westbound on East 11th Avenue around 11 p.m. The driver, 19-year-old Josiah Martinez, did not stop and was later arrested when his vehicle was found at a nearby residence. Martinez was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and failure to render aid. He was also cited for driving without a valid license.
March 7: Anthony Johnson, 56, died when he was struck by an SUV while crossing the northbound lanes of the Seward Highway, near Dowling Road, around 8:20 p.m. Johnson died at the scene. The driver remained on the scene and cooperated with officers, police said.
March 6: Mary Rickteroff-Andrew, 52, was lying on the ground in the east end of the South Anchorage Wal-Mart parking lot when the driver of a minivan drove over her. Rickteroff-Andrew was declared dead at the scene. The driver remained on the scene and cooperated with officers, police said.
March 3: Brian Pederson, 30, was the victim of a hit-and-run, police say. His body was found around 3:40 a.m., lying in the southbound lanes of the Old Seward Highway, near Industry Way. Officers later arrested Marsean Hadley, 29, and charged him with manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the influence and failure to render aid.
Jan. 30: A man, not identified by police, was struck and killed by an SUV going southbound on C Street between West Fireweed Lane and West Northern Lights Boulevard around 9 a.m. The driver remained on the scene and cooperated with officers, police said.
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