Planners weigh major overhaul of Fireweed Lane, including roundabouts, wider sidewalks and bike paths

Alaska transportation planners are once again looking to upgrade Fireweed Lane in Anchorage, an aging commercial corridor where hundreds of crashes have occurred in recent years.

The planners are targeting the 1.25-mile stretch between Spenard Road and the Seward Highway, a dense mix of stores, restaurants, public schools and apartments.

Area business owners say the road, a scenic, fireweed-viewing spot before the city grew around it, is now dangerous, congested and poorly designed for modern conditions.

Sidewalks are narrow, too close to the four-lane road and sometimes blocked by utility poles, planners say. In winter, they can get plowed over with snow, forcing people to walk in the street.

Kristina Busch, project manager for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, said planners are looking at options that include reducing the number of lanes to improve traffic flow. That could create much more space for features like wider sidewalks, bike lanes and, potentially, street parking.

Should Fireweed remain at its current four lanes, but possibly with new safety features like an expanded sidewalk? Or should it go on a “road diet,” as planners say, shrinking to three lanes with center turning lanes?

Or should it even drop to two lanes?

Those are key questions for the public to weigh in on, Busch said.

Other possibilities include adding roundabouts at Arctic Boulevard or Denali Street; upgrades to intersections and crosswalks; and adding road islands and placing power lines underground, according to plans presented on the project’s website, fireweedlane.com.

“The purpose is to improve the safety, mobility and access for all road users,” Busch said. Reducing traffic congestion and delay is another goal, she said.

The upgrades might cost $40 million to $50 million, based on an early, rough estimate, she said. The municipality, which owns and maintains part of Fireweed, is also participating in the project. The planning effort is currently being paid for with federal funds, but additional funds would be needed for construction.

About 50 crashes a year

Business owners along Fireweed contacted for this article said they support the effort to improve the street, in part to protect kids walking to school and to cut down on crashes.

“It’s a dangerous street,” said Mark Robokoff, owner of AK Bark pet supply store. “We keep getting asked for surveillance footage because of all the accidents. So the upgrades are needed pretty desperately.”

Upgrading the road and sidewalks would give the area a face-lift, he said.

Robokoff had a large mural with fireweed and pet portraits painted outside AK Bark a couple of years ago to dress up the area, he said. Another business across the street also recently painted its own fireweed-focused mural, he said.

“I hope I’m starting a trend,” he said.

Robokoff said a “road diet” seems like a good idea on the face of it. He generally supports adding space for cyclists and the many pedestrians using the area, he said.

A reported 533 vehicle crashes on Fireweed happened over a recent 10-year period, most at A and C streets and the Seward Highway, according to project materials. About one-third of the crashes caused injuries. Eleven involved cyclists and pedestrians.

With two lanes for turning drivers to cross, many crashes are angled or rear-end accidents, planners say. People trying to turn left can’t always see what’s coming.

A driver wanting to turn might see a car in one lane but not in the other lane until it’s too late, Busch said.

Would a ‘road diet’ work?

A past effort to reduce Fireweed’s lanes ended around 20 years ago, project materials show. Businesses at the time were concerned that fewer lanes would mean less traffic.

But planners say “road diets” have been increasingly used in Anchorage, with success.

They can reduce vehicle speeds, along with rear-end and angle crashes, without reducing traffic, according to a video presentation of the project. A recent example is just west of the project area, along Spenard Road between Hillcrest Drive and Benson Boulevard, planners say.

A road diet gives drivers a designated turning lane that makes it safer and more simple to turn left, said Joe Taylor, who is leading the project design team for Lounsbury and Associates, an Anchorage-based business.

A three-lane road can handle 20,000 vehicles daily, “far exceeding the traffic volumes on Fireweed Lane now and in the future,” a video presentation of the project says.

Average traffic numbers on Fireweed have dropped over two decades, project materials show. About 6,500 vehicles daily travel the road’s busiest section. That’s down from more than 10,000.

JR Wilcox, co-owner of Quantum Laundry Lounge along Fireweed, said he believes the road is extremely busy with vehicles. He said planners should prioritize vehicle safety issues.

“It’s an old road that probably needs some love for the amount of cars using it,” he said.

“Helping traffic flow and improving turning and parking is what they should be focused on,” he said.

The next steps for the project include selecting a preferred alternative and submitting a review of alternatives to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission before a final design can be selected, Busch said. Construction would take place after 2028, if funding is available.