Every traffic signal in Anchorage will have cameras by the end of summer

City and state transportation officials plan to finish installing cameras at every traffic signal in the city over the upcoming summer in hopes of increasing pedestrian and bicyclist safety.

Anchorage this year reached the highest number of pedestrian deaths in the last 36 years, according to data provided by the municipal traffic department. Fifteen people had died by mid-December, including three incidents where drivers fled the area before police arrived.

Traffic cameras have been instrumental in helping identify such drivers involved in hit-and-run collisions, said Brad Coy, director of the municipal traffic engineering department.

The cameras are not always able to read license plates, he said, but police can release photos of vehicles and ask the public for help that can lead to an arrest or a citation.

The project aims to reduce the number of collisions through enforcement and public education, Anchorage police Sgt. David Noll wrote in a letter of support.

The city began installing cameras in 2017. Now, there are 283 traffic signals throughout the municipality and all but 82 have cameras installed, according to Coy.

Each camera costs roughly $12,000, bringing the cost of this final installation phase to just under $1 million, he said.

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The state transportation department is paying for the 82 additional cameras to “reduce the severity of pedestrian and bicycle crashes by increasing the likelihood that drivers will stop and render assistance, thus improving safety for vulnerable road users,” according to a notice about the project.

Many main streets in Anchorage are maintained by the state Department of Transportation, while other roads and intersections are maintained by the city. The city traffic department operates and maintains the traffic signal network, including the cameras, Coy said.

The cameras store footage for up to three days, which can be valuable for police or for members of the public involved in collisions. The traffic department accepts requests for footage online.

Alexa Dobson, executive director of Bike Anchorage, said the cameras provide clear perspectives and facts about the collision that would otherwise be lost.

“Law enforcement can interview the driver and find out what they think happened, but you can’t ask the pedestrian what happened because they died,” she said. “The information that you gain from these traffic cameras can be really important for understanding the full context, and often that isn’t nearly as clear-cut of a picture, so it’s important to have all that information.”

Dobson said the number of fatalities in Anchorage this year is “absolutely heartbreaking.”

“We don’t want to see another person die on our roads when they’re just trying to get to work or to school or to the grocery store,” she said. “We think that that really isn’t what a healthy, thriving city should look like.”