By: Senator Dave Donley, May 4, 1999

A recent Anchorage Daily News editorial disagreed with an amendment I sponsored to a state transportation bond package to include funding for the extension of Abbott Loop Road North to Tudor Road. The editorial's apparent intent was to discredit a sound idea that enjoys a large degree of support among Anchorage residents. As is often the case these days, if you can't find fault with the message, attack the messenger.

What the Daily News fails to mention is that Abbott Loop North road project is supported by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, the Alaska Trucking Association, Providence Alaska Medical Center, and a majority of the area's residents according to recent surveys of the Abbott Loop, the Campbell Park and the University Area Community Councils.

Traffic experts and almost every person who regularly drives a car in Anchorage will tell you that the intersection at Lake Otis and Tudor is the city's biggest traffic problem. While the recent installation of turn lanes at the Lake Otis and Tudor intersection has helped relieve some of the congestion, this is only a temporary solution to a much larger problem. A long-term solution is needed to effectively relieve the gridlock at this intersection. The fact is, after 10 years of debate and study, extending Abbott Loop north to Tudor Road and west to Dowling Road remains the only viable solution. The inclusion of the four projects unanimously adopted by the Senate using state funds would have provided Anchorage with a major new east/west transportation corridor that would significantly help alleviate traffic congestion on existing roadways.

The four projects included: Dowling Road Extension/Reconstruction - (Minnesota Drive to Old Seward Highway and Lake Otis Parkway to Abbott Loop Road); Abbott Loop Road Extension - (48th Avenue to 68th Avenue); Abbott Road Reconstruction - (Lake Otis Parkway to Birch Road). All of these projects are on the current Anchorage's Transportation Improvement Plan, but would take years to complete if we wait for federal funding. Additionally the completion of other needed road projects located all over Anchorage would also be accelerated if we use state bond funding for these four projects.

The Daily News article erroneously suggests that the inclusion of this Abbott Loop extension circumvented the public process. In fact, the Abbott Loop extension has been the most debated transportation issue in Anchorage for the past 12 years. In 1991 the Municipality included extending Bragaw south to connect with Abbott Loop Road into its Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). The LRTP, which serves as the guide for transportation solutions for the city, also recommended extending Dowling Road east to Abbott Loop Road. These two proposals were included in the LRTP to provide a solution to the congestion problems at Lake Otis and Tudor.

This solution fell victim to a disagreement by city officials on whether to extend Bragaw through the University of Alaska campus. To prevent Mayor Fink from building Bragaw through the University, the Assembly amended the LRTP to make that project a "study". Unfortunately that amendment also made North Abbott Loop to Tudor a "study". In a major error of judgment the Assembly when making this change failed to amend the LRTP to provide any other solution to the Lake Otis and Tudor problem and thus created the traffic nightmare we have today.

At current funding levels, Anchorage is 18 years behind on its current citywide road needs list. This is due partially because anti-road special interests have been successful in manipulating the Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Study (AMATS) process against the interests of the majority of Anchorage residents.

AMATS is a federally mandated committee that controls the planning and spending of federal funds on roads, highways and trails in Anchorage. The legislature has very little say in this process as the committee is made up of the Mayor, two Anchorage Assembly members and two state bureaucrats appointed by the Governor. AMATS has failed to provide adequate planning for Anchorage road projects and has not provided leadership for advocating Anchorage's needs in the state budget process. While Anchorage underwent a dramatic increase in both its traffic volume and congestion during the past decade, AMATS was slow to plan for sorely needed major new transportation corridors.

The Legislature, as the elected representatives of the citizens of Alaska, is constitutionally empowered to authorize state expenditures or place bonds before the public to pay for necessary capital improvements for the state. AMATS has no jurisdiction over the expenditure of state road projects that do not utilize federal highway funding.

Anchorage and statewide voters have consistently approved road bonds and with a larger majority than any other type of bond proposals. By placing these projects into a bond package and on the ballot, all the residents of Anchorage could have debated and decided the merits of these projects. What could be a fairer, more public process than a democratic vote? Unfortunately the final bonds authorized by the legislature did not require a vote of the public or include any road projects.

Anchorage still needs to prioritize and move ahead with efficient transportation solutions that are in the best interest of the city as a whole and not let special interest continue to block needed road projects.

DD/jja

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