Anchorage keeps funding a $5 million median barrier on 5th Avenue

An Anchorage transportation committee voted to keep funding a $5 million concrete median barrier down the middle of 5th Avenue, over an objection that the crash data behind it doesn't justify the cost.

The Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions policy committee voted 4-1 on Aug. 20 to preserve the added money for the barrier, planned between Concrete and Karluk streets. Assembly Member Erin Baldwin Day had moved to strip it pending more community discussion, and that failed 3-2.

Her argument was that the numbers don't hold up. The crash data driving the project is roughly a decade old and counts vehicle crashes, she said, even though the money comes from a federal safety fund meant for pedestrians and cyclists. A committee member cited 80 crashes, three deaths and four serious injuries from 2013 through 2016. Baldwin Day said updated figures show one serious pedestrian injury, in March, after dark. "Building a $5 million wall down the middle of 5th Avenue is not justifiable and the data does not support it," she said, according to the minutes. She also said the public open houses let people pick among wall designs but never offered the option of no wall at all.

The state said the barrier can't move forward without the funding increase. Pulling it, Luke Bowland of the state transportation department said, could also cost Alaska $50 to $60 million in a separate August funding redistribution. Pedestrians would still be able to cross legally at signalized intersections, officials said.

Committee chair Katherine Keith defended the design as the most popular option when it went through public review. "The funding is for vulnerable road users, which is not cars, it is people," she said.

The disagreement plays out against a real toll. Lindsey Hajduk told the committee Anchorage "is experiencing a crisis with two years of 15+ pedestrians and bicyclists killed on our roads," citing a young person recently killed while biking on a sidewalk in Eagle River. Construction is expected in 2027 if the money holds.