AMATS committee to vote on $250,000 safety plan update focused on fatal, serious crashes

The Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions (AMATS) Policy Committee is scheduled to decide Thursday, Nov. 19, whether to approve the scope of a $250,000 update to the Anchorage area's traffic safety plan. The update would focus on fatal and serious-injury crashes and study why traffic deaths have not declined.

Alaska recorded 18 pedestrian deaths in 2025, 15 of them in Anchorage, according to a preliminary count in a state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities presentation. The presentation shows Anchorage holds 39 percent of the state's population but had 66 percent of its fatal and serious-injury crashes involving vulnerable road users from 2020 to 2024.

Emily Weiser, the AMATS senior planner and non-motorized coordinator, wrote the staff memo recommending approval. The Technical Advisory Committee has also recommended it. The previous plan was published in 2024 and was meant to be updated every four years. The memo says the new plan will keep following the Safe System Approach to ensure eligibility under likely future federal requirements for safety grants.

The 2024 plan analyzed all crashes over five years without separating them by severity. In 2025, AMATS staff built a High-Crash Network map from that plan and other sources, according to the memo. The new map, called a High-Injury/Risk Network, would show fatal and serious-injury crashes by mode, such as walking or driving, and flag where severe crashes are most likely based on risk factors. The analysis would cover 2016 through 2025.

A consultant with national experience would run a safety program audit, bringing together agency staff and partners to review what has helped or hindered progress under the 2024 plan.

A draft progress report found the city's Vision Zero coordinator job, meant to lead safety efforts under the 2024 plan, has sat vacant for over a year. The report says people walking and biking make up 6 percent of commute trips but were involved in 49 percent of fatal crashes over 10 years. It says stakeholder input identified speed, bicycle and pedestrian safety, and winter maintenance as priorities.

"Better design, reducing vehicle speeds, and better ways for people to get around town are the long-term solutions," Assembly Chair Anna Brawley said at the Oct. 20 Assembly meeting.

Staff intend to finish the plan in October 2028, including a five-year action plan with an online tracker updated yearly. A public survey would ask which policy changes residents would support or oppose, with open houses planned in Anchorage and Eagle River-Chugiak as well as online, followed by a public comment period on the draft plan.

The committee meets at 1 pm Thursday and will take public comment.