Cars pass down Egan Drive near the Fred Meyer intersection Thursday morning. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Cars pass down Egan Drive near the Fred Meyer intersection Thursday morning. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Assembly passes resolution urging Fred Meyer intersection safety improvements

Members unanimously vote to ask state to provide funding for traffic light, other upgrades.

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday night urging the state Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to take “immediate action” to make substantial safety improvements to the intersection of Egan Drive and Yandukin Drive, a location which some officials and residents call the among the most dangerous in Juneau.

The resolution’s passing follows more than a dozen serious and sometimes fatal vehicle crashes at the Fred Meyer intersection during the past decade, with the state so far only offering recommendations for a “temporary fix” to improve safety. Work on that fix is scheduled to start Nov. 1.

According to DOT statistics between 2013 and 2022, there were 13 collisions during that period at that intersection which resulted in minor injuries and four collisions which resulted in serious injuries.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

“The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly strongly encourages the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to identify project funding in the 2024-2027 Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan to design and construct safety improvements identified in the Planning and Environmental Linkages Study including a signalized intersection with a protected pedestrian crossing and Glacier Lemon Spur extension,” the resolution states.

The resolution identifies the DOT project, known as the Highway Safety Improvement Program project, as a “temporary fix,” but urges for more substantial upgrades.

The HSIP project, scheduled between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31, will lower the speed limit through the corridor to 45 mph, from the current 55 mph. It will also alter the positioning of the left-turn lanes in both directions on Egan Drive in an attempt to improve drivers’ line of sight and reduce the travel distance necessary to clear opposing traffic, an official description of the project states.

Mayor Beth Weldon made an objection to give a statement before the resolution’s passing, saying she didn’t necessarily agree lowering the speed limit is an adequate solution. However, she ultimately rescinded the objection.

“I just don’t think that’s the greatest solution whatsoever,” she said. “Out of curiosity I drove 55 (mph) on Egan Drive going into town and I was by far the slowest car on the road. I don’t think changing the speed limit is going to change the speed of the vehicles too much.”

She said the “obvious answer” is to stop the left-hand turn into Fred Meyer.

Possible solutions to improve the safety of the location have existed for years, with a traffic signal at the intersection and extending the road behind Fred Meyer to provide an alternative access route declared the preferred option in a DOT analysis published in August of 2021. However, no steps toward funding or beginning the permitting process for that project are in the works, DOT and local officials said in June.

• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651) 528-1807.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Feb. 15

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The Craig Tribal Association visits the Tongass National Forest to harvest a cultural tree in April of 2024. (U.S. Forest Service photo)
Reviews range widely to Forest Service’s draft ‘biography’ of Tongass as part of management plan update

Comment period ends Monday for assessment of forest — but will plan’s direction change under Trump?

Tourists walk along Juneau’s harbor on April 26, 2024, next to the docked Carnival Spirit, a ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. Cruise ship visitation to Alaska has increased in recent years, and so have measured violations of wastewater standards. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
More cruise traffic in Alaska is followed by more wastewater violations, officials say

Violations roughly triple after elimination of ocean ranger program by Dunleavy in 2019.

Elon Musk on stage with a chainsaw gifted to him by President Javier Milei of Argentina, left, during the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference at the Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center in National Harbor, Md., on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)
Update: Trump administration, breaking with Musk’s directive, says replying to his email is voluntary

Federal workers told Saturday by Musk failure to reply by Monday would be treated as a resignation.

Jude Humphrey, a Student Conservation Association intern for the U.S. Forest Service, reads a story about snowflakes to kids during a Mendenhall Minis event at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center on Saturday morning. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Firing on: Remaining Forest Service staff fill in to keep Mendenhall Glacier activities flowing

As visitor center continues lectures and kids’ events, fired employees get a show of community support.

The University of Alaska Southeast class of 2024 receives their degrees during a commencement ceremony Sunday, May 5, 2024, at the UAS Recreation Center. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
University of Alaska removing DEI references from all print and online materials

UAS chancellor says deletions are to comply with Board of Regents’ directive issued Friday afternoon.

A bike is parked outside the main entrance of Bartlett Regional Hospital on Thursday, July 27, 2023. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
About 100,000 Alaskans could lose health insurance under GOP plan backed by Trump, hospital officials say

Cut affecting Medicaid could also be costly to state and other policyholders, letter to delegation asserts.

Tetyana Robbins, executive director of Project Alaska, embraces Deepika Ramesh Perumal, executive director of the Alaska Literacy Project, after a House Judiciary Committee meeting at the Alaska State Capitol Building on Feb. 19, 2025. The presentation to the Alaska Legislature was one of many in Juneau this week by immigration leaders in the state. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Immigrants and refugees in Alaska feel uncertainty under Trump administration

Policy changes spur preparation outreach from immigration advocates.

U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, address the Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce on Thursday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Begich supports Trump’s federal cutbacks, but ‘I recognize the process won’t be perfect’

Congressman says cutting most Mendenhall Glacier staff may have been hasty; also wants faster flood fix.

Most Read