Anchorage Daily News

People who attend a Jewel Lake church say there's got to be a better way to wait for the bus than to huddle on a bare spot in an icy snowbank at the side of the road near 88th Avenue, next to the Trophy Lounge.

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The crummy-looking bus stop sets a bad tone for the whole neighborhood, say members of the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, who cite the broken-window philosophy made popular by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani: Take care of problems when they're small or people will think you don't care. An unfixed broken window invites more broken windows.

Giuliani, now a presidential candidate, is widely credited with improving the public face of New York by employing this theory.

The church wants to start its improvement mission with the ugly bus stop and is sponsoring a public meeting at 7 p.m. today at Gloria Dei at 84th Avenue and Jewel Lake. They want to hear what residents have to say, and they've invited People Mover director Jody Karcz to speak as well.

Gloria Dei hopes to strengthen its neighborhood, said the Rev. Scott Fuller. The church belongs to a coalition of churches that promotes family visits to identify issues that are important to the neighborhood.

Members of Gloria Dei made 100 visits in the area last summer and fall.

"Over and over again, crime and traffic at the 88th and Jewel Lake intersection was highlighted as the focal point," said Fuller. "There are continually things going on there that contribute to the instability," he said, citing crimes against people and property.

The congregation hit on asking the city to improve the bus stop as a good first step toward tackling what's wrong with this particular corner, said Fuller.

"It came up in a couple of visits. People were concerned about safety and sanitariness," he said.

His wife, Carolyn, took a photograph of the bus stop last summer. It showed the sign on a dirt strip littered with trash, right next to the road. Now the waiting area consists of a blackened snowbank that tilts into the road.

There's no bench and no shelter, though there are benches at stops farther east on 88th and on Jewel Lake Road.

Sarah Weber, a member of Gloria Dei, can see the bus stop area from her yard. "We've seen things such as people peeing," she said. "There's a lot of cigarette butts back there, a lot of garbage. There's a lot of activity with cars in winter -- people coming out of the Trophy Lounge and spinning around in the parking lot."

"My biggest issue was not necessarily the bus stop itself but the whole street, 88th," Weber said.

Laura Kowal, who works at the Trophy Lounge, said she thinks it would be a great idea to move the bus stop farther east on 88th, away from the intersection. "I think it would be safer, more out in the open. You can see people walking across the street a little more."

Fuller said the church doesn't want to do the work itself or pay for the improvements. "We're interested in the city doing the job they're supposed to. We're helping them notice the squeaky wheel."

Karcz, the People Mover director, said the city wants to change the bus stop. Upgrading the 1,200 to 1,300 bus stops across the city is based on a priority list according to the number of riders that use each one, she said. And not very many people use the one on the south side of 88th at Jewel Lake. An average of nine people get off there daily, and 15 board the bus there. From this stop, the bus heads toward the Dimond Center.

The stop is No. 222 on the list of those needing upgrades, Karcz said.

It poses some challenges because there's no really good place to put the stop, she said. It could be moved closer to the west, closer to a gas station, or maybe a little bit east.

Based on usage, it doesn't warrant a shelter, Karcz said.

But the complaints of the church people are being heard, she said, "If somebody in the community says we need to look at this, we're delighted to move it up to the top. Because people care about it."

Daily News reporter Rosemary Shinohara can be reached at rshinohara@adn.com or 257-4340.

WANT TO GO? A meeting is scheduled at 7 p.m. today at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, 84th Avenue and Jewel Lake Road to discuss the bus stop situation.

What bus stops cost

• Bluff Drive and Dogwood Street on Government Hill: $7,015. Concrete pad.

• DeBarr Road and Russian Jack Springs Park: $6,440. Concrete pad.

• San Geronimo off Bragaw Street: $18,285. Shelter, light, bench and trash can.

• Commercial Drive and Meyer Street: $31,977. Shelter, light, bench, trash can and trail improvements.

• Diplomacy and Tudor Center drives: $34,477. Concrete retaining wall, sidewalk, curb cut.

Source: People Mover