AMATS staff seek support for moving U.S. Bicycle Route 97 to trails

AMATS staff asked the Technical Advisory Committee on Thursday to back a plan that would move US Bicycle Route 97 off the Seward and Glenn highways and onto Anchorage trails. The committee would recommend that the AMATS Policy Committee approve a letter of support. The proposed route would follow the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail and Ship Creek Trail around the Anchorage bowl, then the pathway along the Old Glenn Highway in Eagle River and Chugiak. The designation is advisory. Cyclists' legal route choices would not change, including riding the Seward Highway shoulder toward Indian and Girdwood.

Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions, or AMATS, is the metropolitan planning organization that programs federal transportation funds for the Anchorage area. The Technical Advisory Committee recommends. The Policy Committee acts.

US Bicycle Route 97 was established in 2011 along Alaska Route 1. It now follows the Seward and Glenn highways directly through Anchorage, Eagle River and Chugiak. The route system is managed by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or AASHTO, and published by the Adventure Cycling Association. Its guidelines call for dedicated bicycle facilities or very low-volume roads carrying fewer than 1,000 vehicles a day. They also call for routes that go around rather than through population centers, and for added scenic value.

AMATS Non-Motorized Coordinator Emily Weiser wrote in her memo that the existing alignment "is not the most bike-friendly option and does not align with the above guidelines."

Julius Adolfsson, the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities' Active Transportation Planner and Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, is preparing the application to AASHTO. He worked with municipal and AMATS staff to fine-tune the proposed alignment. In the draft letter of support, AMATS Executive Director Aaron Jongenelen wrote that "the proposed realignment improves upon the existing route through the AMATS area by better following USBRS guidelines and using corridors that are much more suitable for biking."

The proposal reflects a broader national push to build out the US Bicycle Route System on low-volume roads and separated paths rather than direct highway routing.

The two constituencies most affected see the corridor differently. Bike Anchorage is pressing for a separated path along the Seward Highway. The group says on its project page, "We are working to support the development of a separated bike and pedestrian pathway between Anchorage and Girdwood along the Seward Highway." Some experienced riders, meanwhile, treat the highway shoulder as a workable long-distance route. A cycling blogger describing the Anchorage-to-Indian ride wrote that "here's where you'll be riding on the shoulder of the Highway for 15 miles." Family-oriented riders are steered instead to off-street paths like the Coastal Trail, the facilities the realignment would formalize.