Potter Drive designs test Anchorage guidance on in-street bike lanes

Potter Drive has no sidewalks or pathways today. Pedestrians and bicyclists currently share travel lanes or narrow, intermittent shoulders with vehicle traffic. Four design options the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities has put before Anchorage planners would give the corridor its first dedicated space for people walking and biking, while also addressing deteriorated pavement and drainage. The report acknowledges that two adopted city and regional plans disagree about what that space should look like.

The Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to take up the concept report as an informational item Monday, Aug. 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Z.J. Loussac Library. No vote on a design is scheduled.

The conflict sits in the plans themselves. The Municipality of Anchorage Official Streets and Highways Plan classifies Potter Drive as an Industrial Commercial Collector. Its street typology says bicycle and pedestrian travel should be accommodated on industrial streets, but that in-street bike lanes are rare and sidewalks are held to the code minimum width. The AMATS Non-Motorized Plan, adopted in November 2021, recommends Potter Drive for a separated bikeway and ranks it a medium priority. The report, prepared by consultant DOWL for DOT&PF, states plainly that the bikeway recommendation contrasts with the industrial street typology.

Two of the four options would add on-street bicycle lanes rather than the separated bikeway the Non-Motorized Plan recommends.

• Option A pairs two 6-foot on-street bicycle lanes and 11-foot travel lanes with a sidewalk on one side.

• Option B adds a second sidewalk, making it the widest option and requiring the most right-of-way acquisition.

• Option C provides sidewalks and 2-foot buffers on both sides, leaving cyclists to use the roadway or the sidewalk.

• Option D provides a 10-foot shared-use pathway and a buffer on one side.

All four concepts have been identified for further evaluation. Several key considerations remain unresolved, including intersection control at Arctic Boulevard, potential lighting improvements and whether overhead utilities should be undergrounded.

Preliminary public input supports bicycle accommodations, the report says, though some comments raised concern about on-street lanes with no buffer separating cyclists from traffic.

The corridor runs 0.77 miles from Arctic Boulevard to Dowling Road past breweries, mechanic shops, storage yards, a gymnastics studio, a church and homes. The right-of-way is typically 60 feet, with some buildings directly abutting it and a dense mix of overhead and buried utilities. Planned curb, gutter and driveway upgrades along the corridor may change existing driveway configurations and could affect property access and parking layouts for adjacent owners.