Anchorage has a chance to support trail bridges for $1.5 million on the bond April 7. We urge the public to invest in bridges and our economy by voting yes on Proposition 4.
There are six bridges on the Coastal Trail built in Project 80's that are in need of attention. Eleven bridges on the Chester Creek Trail and 20 on the Campbell Creek Trail are 30 years old. We must maintain our valued system of trails to keep it functional and vital.
Trails make Anchorage a great place to live, work and play. Trails connect us to recreation, jobs, fitness, nature, and community events; trails are a year-round part of our lives in this urban wilderness. Where else can you see beluga or the northern lights on your way to work in the morning?
Anchorage attracts a talented workforce. People move to our city to experience a lifestyle that others can only watch on television. Anchorage Economic Development Corporation's "Live.Work.Play." initiative strives to make Anchorage a great place to live so that we continue to attract and retain talented professionals to our community, which feeds innovation and the economy. Additional capital improvements to our trails and greenways only will further attract and retain a talented workforce and businesses to our area, raise property values, and increase recreation-related spending.
As small and large business owners and leaders, we have both faced the challenges of attracting and retaining talent. This isn't Portland and it isn't Miami. If you can hire someone who wants to ski or run trails before the workday begins, you've found someone who gets what Anchorage has to offer.
The Anchorage Park Foundation is the nonprofit partner of the municipality for parks and trails. We accept private resources and combine them with volunteer power, state, federal and other financial resources to get projects in the ground. We are replacing unsafe and tired playgrounds all over town with accessible, fun theme-based playgrounds (2015 is the summer of a walrus, the Iditarod Trail and a mastodon!). We have been working with Live.Work.Play. and 145 community partners to make trails easier to use, safer and better connected to neighborhoods and schools.
After the success of resurfacing the Coastal Trail in 2013, and securing funding for the resurfacing of the Chester Creek Trail in 2014, a bridge on the Coastal Trail north of Westchester Lagoon failed last June and was removed. The fence where the bridge stood now disconnects our downtown from the most popular intersection of our trail system. It is an eyesore. It can't be good for morale.
A successful Proposition 4 will provide $1.5 million to the bridge replacement and repair project. The Municipality of Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department and the Anchorage Park Foundation have requested the Alaska State Legislature match that amount in the capital budget, contingent on Anchorage voters pass the Prop. 4 bond.
We hope that like the Anchorage Park Foundation, you see the importance of ways neighbors, schools, businesses, Bike Anchorage, the Nordic Ski Club and numerous other trail-using groups directly engage with our trails. Please get involved with the trails you love. Please vote for Yes for park and trail bonds, schedule volunteer days, plan new connections or work for better wayfinding.
Eleanor Andrews is the board chair of the Anchorage Park Foundation, retired businesswoman, and longtime community builder. David Wight is an Anchorage Park Foundation board member, retired Alyeska Pipeline CEO and a member of the guest editorial board at Alaska Dispatch News.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary@alaskadispatch.com