Anchorage mayor candidate Q&As: Are there specific transportation projects you would initiate in the municipality if elected?

In advance of the April 6 Anchorage municipal election, the Anchorage Daily News asked candidates running for Anchorage mayor a series of issue questions. These include questions suggested by readers. Read all the mayor and school board candidates’ responses here.

Q: Are there specific transportation projects you would initiate in the municipality if elected?

Anna Anthony

No.

Dave Bronson

While I support many of the transportation projects that are being worked, I have no new projects in mind. I will focus on maintaining those roads and trails we now have with a focus on cost savings.

Jeffrey Brown

Anchorage’s road system needs major changes. We need a downtown thoroughfare for Glenn/New Seward/Minnesota connectivity. It is unbelievable there is no way to bypass downtown for commercial trucks and countless vehicles passing through Anchorage. There are no thoroughfares traversing the Hillside or roads through the mid-Hillside to Northeast Anchorage without many stops on roads that aren’t suitable for big trucks or heavy traffic that needs to get through Anchorage. The port project needs to be completed somehow, and the downtown road infrastructure must be overhauled. Traffic flow patterns need to be improved generally, with investments in modern technology. Having to constantly stop at stop lights that aren’t coordinated is a drain on our time and our gas tanks. Airport rail extension for shipments?

Forrest Dunbar

I will champion transportation projects that improve connectivity, increase pedestrian and bike options, reduce traffic, have community buy-in, and make Anchorage a more livable city. There are several community-based plans that already exist with long lists of projects that would meet those criteria. With the new federal administration prioritizing infrastructure spending, we will have a unique opportunity to turn our plans into projects: for example, a pedestrian and bike overpass on Lake Otis below Tudor will improve safety and trail connectivity; more life-safety access roads will ensure residents aren’t trapped on the wrong side of a forest fire. Building out our world-class trail system to connect more neighborhoods will improve property values and economic activity across Anchorage.

Bill Evans

I would push hard for the completion of the highway-to-highway project. If you consider the “port” as a transportation project, it will be absolutely essential that we complete that project during the next few years. If Anchorage’s economy grows, as I believe it will, we also have to be mindful of ensuring our transportation corridors and infrastructure keep pace with the growth. Too many cities get bound up by rapidly growing industries and insufficient transportation corridors.

Bill Falsey

Despite improvements to the PeopleMover bus system and our trail network, Anchorage remains predominately a car city. For motorized traffic, our roads work pretty well. For non-motorized traffic, the city still has work to do — but it is moving in the right direction. Recent initiatives such as “vision zero,” which outlines a strategy to eliminate all traffic fatalities and severe injuries while increasing safe, healthy and equitable transportation for everyone, and the move to “complete streets,” like the rebuilt section of Spenard Road, that equally prioritize pedestrian and bicycle safety, show the way. As mayor, I would continue in those directions, improve trail connectivity, and ensure that federal funds received through the AMATS process are not used solely for highway mega-projects.

Heather Herndon

Yes. I’d like to look at decreased bus size with updated schedule. There’s a local talent that chops cars into limousines and I wonder if they can do it in reverse. Recalculate costs-benefit.

George Martinez

Yes, I would work to expand public surface transportation, non-motorized/pedestrian corridors in the downtown area, and use federal infrastructure and transportation resources to explore the opportunity for regional commuter rail service.

Mike Robbins

Yes. We will re-initiate the construction of the Knik Arm Bridge. We will support the construction of the Anchorage bypass that will connect the Glenn and New Seward Highways. We will put through the Elmore road extension.

Albert Swank Jr.

I will consider such, but only if funding can be achieved without additional current economic harm to the city.

Read more questions:

Why are you running for mayor?

What in your background or experience sets you apart from the other candidates and makes you suited to be an effective mayor of Anchorage?

What’s the biggest challenge facing city government and how would you address it?

Describe how your administration would approach the coronavirus pandemic

What’s your assessment of how Anchorage’s city government has responded to the pandemic over the past year? What, if anything, would you have done differently?

What role should city government play in repairing economic damage to individuals, businesses and community organizations from the pandemic?

What’s your vision for downtown, and what specifically are your short-term and long-term plans for repairing damage from the past year?

Would you make changes to the Anchorage Police Department and policing policies? Why?

Is the Anchorage Police Department adequately staffed?

Do you support the bond issue on this spring’s municipal ballot that would fund public-safety technology upgrades, including body-worn and in-vehicle cameras for police officers? Explain.

Describe, with specifics, how you would expand and diversify Anchorage’s economy.

What’s your vision for Anchorage’s economy in the future?

Is taxation in Anchorage too high/about right/too low?

Do you have ideas for alternative sources of city revenue? Explain.

Are there city programs or services you would cut? Explain.

Are there city programs or services you would expand? Explain.

What’s your view of current Anchorage land-use plans? Would you push for changes?

Homelessness remains a persistent, significant problem in Anchorage. What specifically would you do differently from previous administrations?

Name a program dealing with homelessness in Anchorage that you believe is working

Discuss your commitment to transparency and openness in Anchorage municipal government. Do you have suggestions for improving either?

What’s your assessment of Anchorage’s transportation infrastructure? Do you have a plan to improve it? How?

Are there specific transportation projects you would initiate in the municipality if elected?

The past year has been marked by increasing civic discord in Anchorage. What would you do to reduce frustration, distrust and anger that increasingly has characterized civic conversation?

What other important issue would you like to discuss?