Mat-Su’s bicycle and trails plan is big and long-range, and carries an economic punch

It seems intuitive that a larger network of hiking and bike trails in the Mat-Su would make for better health and quality of life, but research also points to monetary gains for the regional economy, mainly in tourism but also increases in residential home values for properties near trails.

However, safety is the major focus of a new long-range plan, developed by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for walking and biking. A major goal is to reduce injuries and deaths from vehicle-pedestrian accidents due to lack of safe lanes to walk or bicycle on roads.

The new plan builds on an earlier 2017 transportation plan developed by the borough.

Ninety-five projects are proposed on 130 miles of new trails and walkways.

The benefits of reduced accidents are substantial but the impacts of expanded trails on the economy are less recognized.

They can be substantial. For Mat-Su, benefits of $1.89 million per year to the regional economy have been estimated for an expanded network of trails with another $309,000 annually estimated for expanded bike trails. The estimates combine the benefits of lower health and health care expenditures, in transportation and more indirect reduced environmental costs.

They were developed for Mat-Su as a part of the 2019 Alaska Statewide Active Statewide Master Plan and included in an economic assessment for the borough’s new trails plan by McKinley Research Group, an Anchorage-based consulting firm.

Much of the McKinley Group report focused on the health benefits more trails could bring through more exercise but the monetary benefits to visitor-related businesses as well as homeowners with property near trails was also featured.

“Homes in rural communities (like Mat-Su) experienced between a 3 percent to 5 percent increase in value within half a mile of a trail,” McKinley Research wrote in the report.

“The largest value increases were associated with well-known or high-profile trails.” The highest appreciation would come with views of green space or locations near trail access point.

“Using this research as a basis, a house valued at $285,000 in the Mat-Su Borough could have a realized value increase between $8,500 to $14,250 if located near a trail,” the report said. Higher home values also translate to more property tax revenue to municipal governments.

The greatest economic benefit of a larger trail network may be in attracting more visitors to Mat-Su, however. “In the summer 2016 (most current survey data available) the number two activity among out-of-state visitors to the Mat-Su were hiking and nature walks … visitors to Mat-Su were slightly more likely to rank hiking and nature walk” as prime activities, at 17 percent versus 12 percent,” of those surveyed, the report said.

Trails stimulate business activity the most when they attract overnight visitors, too. “The economic impact of trails is highest when it is connected to local businesses that cater to trail-user needs such as restaurants, grocery stores, camping, hotels, guiding services and gear stores,” McKinley Research wrote.

The connection can occur directly when trail spurs connect to commercial centers as well as through signs at trailheads or shuttles between a town and a trailhead, the report said. “Because lodging often accounts for the biggest proportion of trip expenses, a trail’s economic impact is greatly increased when it attracts more overnight users,” McKinley Group wrote.

Economic studies of popular hiking trails in the Lower 48 states, such as the Appalachian Trail in the U.S. east, show that overnight users spent seven times more money than day users. Also, data showed that the quality of trails and amenities that support trail users have substantial effects in boosting visitors.

And while special trail events are short-lived, data also show that participants tend to return to the area following the event.

Mat-Su’s trail plan is not designed to connect with back-country trails, “but is more geared towards how to connect our urban networks with rural communities and recreation areas,” Kelsey Anderson, the borough’s project manager for the trails plan said in an e-mail. “We stayed away from recreation trails and backcountry connections. Those are covered in the Mat-Su Borough's Master Trails Plan,” Anderson said.

But While not directly connected with other regional trails initiatives like the proposed Alaska Long Trail, the borough’s planners took them into consideration. “We looked at the proposed routes for the Long Trail when we were doing our initial recommendations,” Anderson said.

“Depending on where the Long Trail will land as it heads into the Talkeetna and Chugach (mountains) we are hopeful that some of the connectors in the bike and pedestrian plan will provide safe passage for those travelers (on the Long Trail) who need to come into Palmer for goods and services.”

There are as yet no cost estimates or a schedule of projects in the borough’s new trail plan. Anderson said it is designed to fit with the state’s Surface Transportation Improvement Plan, which spans several years and is updated. The state STIP guides federal funding and could pay for a good share of the borough plan, particularly those that enhance safety.

“Our goal in developing this plan was to have in writing what the Borough's non-motorized priorities are, so when the DOT (state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities) looks to build new roads or do improvements, they reference local plans to make sure they are in alignment,” Anderson said.

“With the BPP (bike and pedestrian plan) now being adopted, the DOT will have to look at that in their initial design phase,” for state funding of new roads in the Mat-Su, she said.