Each year, dozens of people die on dangerous sections of Alaska's road network. In urban areas, drivers waste countless hours waiting to get through congested intersections, and public transportation is very limited. In rural areas, dust from unpaved roads leaves kids coughing with asthma. Earthquakes, avalanches, thawing permafrost, thousands of islands, several mountain chains, and the vast nature of Alaska create unique transportation challenges. To meet these challenges, the State of Alaska must invest in environmentally-appropriate, cost-effective, transportation improvements.

Because the vast majority of money for new transportation projects, or “capital” projects, historically came from federal tax dollars, Alaskans often viewed these projects as “free.” The truth is that capital funding for mega-projects comes at the expense of other long-awaited improvements to Alaska’s existing transportation system. Additionally, federal funding for transportation projects is in decline due to reduced earmarks (at least in part caused by the national reaction against Alaska’s Knik Arm and Gravina expensive “bridges to nowhere”) and ongoing depletion of the federal Highway Trust Fund which provides states with federal money from taxes on transportation fuels such as gasoline.

Once roads are built, the state and local governments must keep roads plowed and maintained. Much of this maintenance money in Alaska comes from federal dollars. As noted above, federal dollars are in decline, so Alaska needs to develop a mechanism to pay for maintenance in the future.

Status of the Federal Highway Trust Fund.
As Of September 30, 2004  Click to view the graph

Fix it First

The Palin Administration faces an expensive but important task – to maintain and preserve the state’s existing transportation infrastructure at a time of decreasing federal funding. Alaska currently relies on federal funding for transportation infrastructure more than any other state with 70% of this year’s $810 million capital budget for transportation coming from federal dollars. In a May 2007 letter to Alaskans interested in statewide transportation projects, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT) Commissioner Leo von Scheben stated that the largest federal source of road money in Alaska – the Highway Trust Fund – likely will be reduced by as much as 25% beginning in 2009.

Alaska also needs to fix road culverts that fail to allow fish passage, especially in the Kenai Peninsula Borough where more salmon spawning means more commercial and sport-fishing revenue (for example, Coal Creek – a tributary of the Kasilof River – needs a culvert replacement.)

• 33% of Alaska's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.
• The Alaska Department of Transportation estimates that the agency's maintenance needs are under-funded at least $40 million annually.
• Driving on roads in need of repair costs Alaska motorists $102 million a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs -- $212 per motorist.
• Congestion in the Anchorage metropolitan area costs commuters $87 per person in excess fuel and lost time.
• 30% of Alaska's bridges are structurally-deficient or functionally obsolete.

Before building new bridges and roads into unpopulated areas – bridges and roads that were rejected previously because they were costly and unneeded – the state should focus on improving the road, public transportation, and ferry systems serving existing communities so they are safer and do a more efficient job of moving people and goods.

Alaska Highway Fatality Rates

Click to view graph
Source: http://dot.alaska.gov/stwdplng/shsp/safety_data.shtml#

Alaska Speeding Related Fatalities, 2005

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Increase Safety

Top Alaska Boroughs for Head-On Fatalities and Major Injuries, 2001-2005

Head-On Fatalities

1. Matanuska Susitna Borough (33.3%)
2. Kenai Peninsula Borough (26.8%)
3. Anchorage Municipality (18.2%)
4. Fairbanks North Star Borough (12.1%)
   

Head-On Major Injuries

1. Anchorage Municipality (33.5%)
2. Matanuska Susitna Borough (26.6%)
3. Kenai Peninsula Borough (18.0%)
4. Fairbanks North Star Borough (11.2%)

Improve Non-Road and Non-Motorized Transportation

In many places in Alaska, roads are the most logical way to connect communities. Alaska’s unique geography and low population density, however, often dictates more creative, non-road transportation solutions. Among the island communities of Alaska’s coast, ferry service makes the most sense. Currently, 33 communities and over 100,000 Alaskans are directly served by the ferry system, also known as the Alaska Marine Highway System. In areas in the far north, posting signs along snowmobile trails connecting villages saves lives as fewer people will get lost. Port and boat harbor improvements are critical investments for Alaska’s fishing-dependent communities. In many rural communities in Alaska, airport improvements are essential because the communities rely on air and water only for supplies.

In Alaska’s more urban communities, promoting non-motorized (principally walking and bicycling) transportation makes sense to combat congestion cost-effectively, vehicle pollution, and obesity among children and adults. Alaska needs to spend its $1 million in annual federal funding for its Safe Routes to Schools walking/bicycling program wisely, and Anchorage currently is developing a non-motorized transportation plan consisting of new pedestrian and bicycling plans which emphasize non-recreational travel and an updated areawide trails plan.