Anchorage planners propose safety plan update to study why traffic deaths haven't declined

An Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions (AMATS) planner is asking a key committee to back the scope of a 2028 Safety Plan update that would evaluate why traffic fatalities in the Anchorage area have not declined. The AMATS Technical Advisory Committee takes it up Thursday, Nov. 5.

A draft safety progress report attached to the proposal finds pedestrians and bicyclists were involved in 49% of fatal crashes from 2016 through 2025 while making up 6% of commute trips. They were involved in 31% of serious-injury crashes. Of the 98 non-motorists killed, seven were bicyclists and the rest pedestrians.

On five-year rolling averages, deaths of people walking or biking rose over the decade while motorist deaths fell, leaving the overall rate roughly flat, the report says. Motorcyclists accounted for 23 of 101 motorized deaths but 0.1% of motorized commute trips. The report cautions that commute share does not capture all trips and that 2025 figures remain preliminary.

A slide from Emily Weiser, AMATS senior planner and non-motorized coordinator, puts Anchorage's pedestrian death rate at 5.2 per 100,000 people, beside Smart Growth America's Dangerous by Design 2026 ranking, led by Memphis at 5.5 and Albuquerque at 5.32.

The report also tracks the 2024 Safety Plan. Of its 17 actions, two are complete, 11 are in progress and four have not started. Seven of its 22 priority corridors have design or construction programmed; nine do not. The Vision Zero coordinator position has been vacant for more than a year.

The AMATS Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, which counted 15 pedestrians killed in a record 2024, has urged stronger action on pedestrian and bicycle safety.

Weiser's memo to the committee asks members to recommend the scope to the AMATS Policy Committee. The update is programmed for $250,000 in 2027 and targeted for completion in October 2028. It would add a consultant-led audit of what has helped or hindered progress under the 2024 plan, a map of where severe crashes are likely to occur, a five-year action plan and an annually updated online tracker. A partner group of state and city agencies would help write and carry out the plan. Public involvement would include a survey, open houses in Anchorage and Eagle River-Chugiak and a comment period.

The committee meets at 1 pm at 4700 Elmore Road and online. The agenda invites public comment after members discuss the scope.