Jason Wilson rides a bicycle Monday along the paved path next to Mendenhall Loop Road. Bike paths are part of the Juneau Assembly's nonmotorized transportation plan.
• Defining concept plans, budgets and scope for non-motorized projects for funding access.
• Working with Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to establish city of Juneau input at beginning of state road projects.
• Establishing a bicycle and pedestrian education and signage program.
• Integrating motorized and non-motorized transportation planning.
• Maintenance program for non-motorized facilities.
• More bicycle racks.
Web link:
See the plan online at www.sheinbergassociates.com/currentprojects.htm.
Story last updated at 11/3/2009 - 10:35 am
An updated city plan a year in the making calls for a bikeway across Juneau, paved shoulder lanes for pedestrians and bicyclists, bike lanes on Glacier Highway and crosswalks in Lemon Creek among its 18 priorities.
The Juneau Assembly approved the update of its nonmotorized transportation plan Monday, its first since 1997.
Parks and Recreation Director Marc Matsil said the plan guides development from a community-wide perspective and takes a more holistic approach to transportation in Juneau. Some of the projects on the list, such as a bike and pedestrian crossing at the Brotherhood Bridge and a sidewalk widening from the bridge to Auke Bay, are either already under way or have state money allocated. Some are also on the city's six-year improvement plan, said Mayor Bruce Botelho.
However, there is no time frame for the plan as a whole, but the Assembly will choose priorities and budget for them over time, said Community Development Director Dale Pernula. Planners will also take consider the plan when looking at major projects, rezoning and subdivisions, he said.
The plan's executive summary says, "In the last decade communities have been changing their approach towards planning for bicyclists and pedestrians. Rising fuel costs, increasing concern about greenhouse gas emissions and growing awareness of the link between community health and active transportation have changed the way that all transportation is used."
In addition to the 18 goals, the plan outlines 12 recommended policies to address that change, such as integrating motorized and nonmotorized transportation planning, having multi-agency input at early on in planning, and establishing a bicycle and pedestrian education and signage program.
Safety, said Matsil, was "incredibly important" in determining goal-setting priorities.
"One of the goals of the plan is to reduce accidents," he said.
The necessity of maintenance as a safety issue is something resident Jon Lyman - one of more than 400 people who submitted comments or attended public hearings in the last year - addressed in his public comments to the Assembly on Monday. Lyman said he is "scared stiff" bicycling through Lemon Creek in large part because of debris in bike lanes.
Matsil said 29 percent of the comments over the last year asked for better maintenance, which is one the new policy recommendations.
"The challenge is that this is a city plan but a lot of the roads in Juneau are not city roads," said Botelho.
Planners set priorities based on accident locations, areas with heavy traffic, areas close to community destinations and schools, and with input from the community, city, state department of transportation and Juneau police, said Zo Morrison, senior planner for Sheinberg Associates. The Juneau planning firm completed the transportation study and plan for the city.
• Contact reporter Mary Catharine Martin at 523-2276 or maryc.martin@juneauempire.com.
The 18 priorities in the new plan:
1. Cross-Juneau bikeway
2. Paved shoulder lanes on N. Douglas Hwy from boat launch to end, Thane Road from downtown, Glacier Hwy. from Lena Loop to Tee Harbor, Glacier Hwy. from Amalga Harbor to end.
3. Sidewalk improvements in Auke Bay, University of Alaska Southeast area.
4. Bike lane along Glacier Hwy. from Deharts to Brotherhood bridge brought up to standard.
5. Improving 5 Mendenhall Loop Road intersections.
6. Widening Brotherhood Bridge, adding bike lanes and wider sidewalk.
7. Adding crosswalks, bike facilities and sidewalks to Mendenhall Mall Road.
8. Bike lanes on Glacier Highway from Brotherhood Bridge to Mendenhall Loop Road brought up to standard.
9. Completing the "Under Thunder" trail along the eastern edge of Mendenhall Valley
10. Lemon Creek sidewalks, bike lanes.
11. Lemon Creek Crosswalks at Glacier Hwy. and Anka Street, Glacier Hwy. and Walmart, and Glacier Hwy. and Concrete Way.
12. Egan Drive downtown bike lanes.
13. Egan Drive downtown pedestrian improvements.
14. Improving sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes on Glacier Ave. between Highland Dr. and 12th St.
15. Completing the seawalk from Aurora Harbor to the rock dump.
16. Completing Douglas Hwy. bike lane.
17. Improving intersections on Douglas Hwy.
18. Rebuilding trails and bridges on Treadwell Ditch.
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