Willow bus driver pushes for Parks Highway signs

May 2, 2006

By JODI SNYDER/For The Frontiersman

WILLOW - Dale Jacobs is a bus driver. He takes a lot of pride in delivering schoolchildren safely to Willow Elementary each morning and returning them to their families at the end of the school day. Jacobs takes his job, and the safety of the children on his route, very seriously.

Jacobs' bus route includes about 20 miles of stops along the Parks Highway north of Willow. While Jacobs feels all bus stops present the potential for an accident, there are a few stops on his route that he says are especially dangerous. For the past year, he has been pressing state and community leaders to help get warning signs at the worst stops.

&#8220And I am not the first driver to express these concerns,” Jacobs said. &#8220This is nothing new. It's been talked about for years.”

Terry Bunker, of Bunker and Bunker bus contractors (the company Jacobs drives for), confirmed that other drivers have complained about the safety of various Parks Highway stops over the years, most of them the same stops Jacobs is concerned about.

&#8220Anytime the drivers express concerns over a stop, I pass it along to the school district or to DOT,” Bunker said.

Other bus drivers who have routes along the highway agree with Jacobs' assessment of the trouble stops. Marie Toothman has driven local students for 16 years along the Parks.

&#8220The stop at Mile 83.7, it's particularly bad from both sides,” Toothman said. &#8220We've had semis try to stop. They are doing 65 or more, then hitting their brakes. When it's icy, it is pretty scary.”

Toothman says she thinks the signs would help.

&#8220It couldn't hurt,” she said. &#8220But I would also like to educate the public more. They don't have enough respect for the job we have to do. They see us as a big moving object, something they need to get around. They don't see inside the bus, the children we are carrying. They pass on a curve, on a double yellow, and then they flip us off. It eludes me why people act the way the do.”

Toothman also suggested that the state provide more information in its DMV materials about how to act around a school bus. &#8220We really need more education.”

Scott Thomas, Central Region traffic engineer for the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, first heard about Jacobs' request for signs last October. He contacted the Mat-Su Borough School District's transportation staff and asked them to measure the sites identified by Jacobs and other drivers.

&#8220The state standard is 700 feet of visibility,” Thomas said. &#8220And all the stops in question exceeded that distance.”

Thomas also noted that Alaska's standard exceeds the national standard in this application, since it was increased from 500 to 700 feet in January 2003.

Still, Jacobs hasn't stopped pressing for the signs.

&#8220If a bus driver says it's a dangerous stop, it's a dangerous stop. There's no ulterior motive here,” he said. &#8220These stops should be addressed one by one, not by a single standard that is probably based on cars going the speed limit, on dry roads in ideal conditions.”

Thomas agreed.

&#8220The standards are based on wet or dry pavement, but not ice,” he said. &#8220But you can only do so much with engineering. There is also education and enforcement, and they all have to work together. It requires a balance.

&#8220A bus is a moving traffic light, essentially,” Thomas said, &#8220People need to see a bus and react to it. It should carry a lot of authority. Drivers have a responsibility to slow down.”

Thomas traveled to Willow himself last week and measured the distances again to verify that all stops in question exceeded the state standards.

&#8220There were over a dozen sites we looked at,” he said, &#8220and of those, a few were close to the state standard. And some were on curves or hill grades. Before we determine if signs are needed, we want to put some real thought behind it. We need to evaluate the data for loaded trucks, review some additional resources and talk to other engineers before we decide how to proceed.”

DOT plans to take no action on the stops this spring, but Thomas said they may consider added signs next fall.

&#8220The Parks is one of our busier, faster highways,” Thomas said. &#8220We will definitely be following up. But it would be good to look at the whole package - engineering, education and enforcement. We probably want to hit this from all angles, not just signing. Signing is only one tool,” he said, &#8220and it's not a very strong tool.”