New signals due in '08

May 19, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - The Department of Transportation hopes to provide gaps in traffic on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway by late 2008.

Installing signals to produce traffic gaps may allow drivers to enter the highway more easily after waiting less time, but it may not reduce the number of accidents on the road.

&#8220Signals are not crash-free, that's something the general public may not realize,” said Scott Thomas, a traffic civil engineer for DOT. &#8220Its a balancing act. Signals are a congestion solution. They don't solve crashes. They create less-severe crashes.”

The high-speed T-bone crashes that happen when drivers try to scoot out in front of oncoming traffic often create serious injuries, Thomas said. Rear-end collisions are more common at signaled intersections and usually involve less serious injuries, he said.

&#8220You still have T-bones at traffic signals,” Thomas said. &#8220But usually the driver disregarded the signal.”

DOT plans to install on-demand traffic signals next summer along the highway where there are already turn pockets, at Hemmer Road, Hyer Road, Equestrian Street and Wagon Road, according to Judy Dougherty, the signalization project manager with DOT. An on-demand signal is one that rests in green when there is no activity on the side streets, and turns to red on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway when a driver pulls up to the intersection.

If all goes according to plan, DOT will advertise the project this fall, which will allow the contractor six to eight months to order the poles. Installation of the first four signals will happen in the spring and summer of 2007, Dougherty said.

A look at the intersections on the highway with signals now indicates the new signals will be four more for some drivers to disregard.

From 2002 through 2004, there were 23 crashes at North 49th State Street, a signaled intersection with three turn pockets. Each crash involved two or three vehicles, with no fatalities or major injuries. One crash involved a moose. Twelve were rear-end collisions.

On March 30, 2004, when the roads had a coating of snow and ice, cars crashed at the intersection at 5:35 p.m., 5:40 p.m. and 6 p.m., none of them rear-end collisions, according to DOT records. Each crash involved two cars, with one sliding through the signal, all drivers were clean and sober and there were no reported injuries.

The Trunk Road intersection, with a signal and turn pockets, has more commercial traffic than North 49th State Street. DOT records for the same two-year period show 49 crashes at or near the intersection. In this area, one to three vehicles were involved in each crash, and again, a moose was a culprit in one.

There were no fatalities reported for that time, but four major and 21 minor injuries were reported. The DOT record of causes for crashes at Trunk Road include driver inattention, failure to yield, following too closely, cell-phone use, red-light violation, improper lane change or driver inexperience.

At or near the Seward-Meridian Parkway and Palmer-Wasilla Highway intersection, with a signal and turn pockets, DOT recorded 171 crashes from 2002 through 2004.

On May 11, 2004, at 10:30 a.m. one person died when a driver went off the road after failing to yield while trying to enter traffic, records show. In addition to the one fatality, there were nine reports of major and 68 minor injuries. Four moose, three bicyclists and one equipment failure were involved in separate crashes near the Seward-Meridian intersection. Drivers rear-ended other vehicles 91 times, according to the record. The usual causes are listed repeatedly for these crashes, with a couple new ones, such as backing improperly and falling asleep, added to the mix.

In 2008, DOT plans to add another four signals, which will cost more and take more time to construct than the first four, according to Dougherty. DOT will construct turn lanes and add signals at Arabian Lane, Shoreline Drive, Shennum Drive and Midtown Drive. These intersections will be widened for a turn lane, but Dougherty expects right-of-way issues to be minor.

Adding a signal to an intersection involves planning, land acquisition, traffic control during construction, pavement removal, installing a loop in the road to detect vehicles, repaving and re-striping the road.

&#8220It's not just putting up a pole and hanging a light,” Dougherty said. &#8220The cost for all phases of project development for a traffic signal installation is roughly estimated at $1 million per site.”

After that, yearly maintenance for a signal costs about $8,000 a year, she said.

Signal construction on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway during the next two years will cost about $8 million, disrupt traffic during construction season, and add $64,000 to the annual maintenance cost for the highway, but it won't eliminate the most common causes of crashes along the highway or cut the time driving from point A to point B.

&#8220So we are putting dollars where they are most needed,” Thomas said. &#8220That doesn't always get the public what it wants. We're putting in the signals, which won't help you get to Wasilla any faster.”

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.