Traffic jammed

Highway's 99th crash of year claims a life

Sept. 16, 2005

MARY AMES\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - A crash that killed a 41-year-old Anchorage woman Tuesday is raising questions about the potentially tragic consequences of increasing traffic pressure on the once-bucolic 9.75-mile thoroughfare between Palmer and Wasilla.

Kim Critchlow was driving west on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway at 3 p.m. when the white Chevy van she was driving veered into the eastbound lane near Laurel Drive and struck a Ford F-550 truck, according to Alaska State Troopers. The impact killed Critchlow, knocked a tire off the Ford and damaged a nearby guardrail.

The crash closed that section of the highway for three hours; traffic was rerouted through a subdivision to the south of the highway until troopers cleared the area. Days later, chalk marks still marked the accident scene.

Palmer-Wasilla Highway is a popular alternative to the construction-clogged Parks Highway. Tuesday's collision was the 99th on the roadway this year. Are the crash rates average for such a relatively short stretch of road?

"A high-volume corridor has more crashes," said Scott Thomas, regional traffic engineer for the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities. "The highway is full."

Thomas said what makes the highway different from busy roads in Anchorage is high-volume traffic travels in both directions four to six hours a day.

And, he said, the turning points to head north or south are four miles apart. The closest road in comparison, he said, is O'Malley. But there, you have peak hours of travel, with an intersecting route every mile.

The design of the highway, last redone in 1982, was to accommodate fewer than 12,000 vehicles per day. DOT data show about 14,000 to 15,000 vehicles now travel this road daily.

"I don't know if Palmer-Wasilla is specifically dangerous, but as the population increases in the Valley, you have more traffic," said Trooper Lt. Rick Roberts. "There are only three east-west roads to carry that traffic: Parks Highway, Seldon-Bogard and Palmer-Wasilla."

Roberts said heavy flow is not the only factor in the accident rate.

"As far as collisions, society shares a great deal of the blame," he said. "When directing traffic at 49th State Street on crash day, about half the people were talking on their cell phones, and most of them to the point of being so distracted as to not follow my directions."

According to statistics compiled by the troopers, there were 117 motor-vehicle accidents reported on the Palmer-Wasilla in 2002, and 130 in 2003 and 2004. So far this year, people crashed an average of 11.25 times a month.

Some spots are worse than others, according to Thomas. While anecdotal evidence points to the Laurel Drive area as problematic for traffic accidents, DOT data show Shennum Drive, Luke Circle and Skip Circle have higher crash rates. The commercial developments in the area create more conflicts, Thomas said. He said the intersection at Seward-Meridian is also a real problem.

Three things solve the highway collision problem, according to Thomas. He calls them the three Es: education, engineering and enforcement. Money for the engineering comes mainly from federal highway funds. The more big projects there are, like the Gravina Island bridge, the less money there is for secondary roads like Palmer-Wasilla, he said. State money, he said, maintains the roads.

"It keeps the stripes bright," he said.

That leaves education and enforcement.

"Society allows people to be preoccupied while sitting in what is basically a missile, surrounded by light metal, plastic and glass," Roberts said. "The concept of courtesy in driving is eroding. We've gone from defensive driving to aggressive driving."

Roberts said he drives in a marked police vehicle and usually sees more good driving habits in the cars around him. But when he drives either an unmarked car or his personal car, he sees more of the erratic driving others see.

"Speed limits are all about safety," he said. "Driving is serious business. Safety begins with personal responsibility. You need to be mindful of what the other drivers are doing."

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.