Frequently Asked Questions

Click on any topic below for more information.

Abbreviations/Definitions and Often Used Terms

Project Scope

3R Analysis

Public Involvement Process

1. When will public input be requested?
2. How can I let the project team know about my concerns and observations?
3. How is the final design decision for Fairview Loop reached?
4. How is this design effort financed?
5. How will construction be funded and when will it take place?

Fairview Loop Speeds

1. What should the travel speed be?
2. How can we achieve lower-speed traffic?
3. What are the actual speeds on Fairview?
4. Why are people driving faster than the speed limit?
5. Would improving horizontal curves increase speeds?
6. Is it possible to make this a safety zone?
7. Can we reduce the speed limit on certain curves or sections of road?
8. Is it possible to increase coverage by troopers to catch speeders/drunk drivers?
9. What about the drivers who use Fairview Loop as a cut through?

Traffic Calming

Safety on Curves & Turns

1. How can we increase safety on the 90-degree turns or blind corners on Fairview Loop?
2. What are some ways to improve safety at existing intersections?
3. What else can be done to make Fairview Loop a safer road?

Sharing the Road

1. Will Snowshoe Elementary School take priority for pedestrian/bicycle paths?
2. How can we safely accommodate ATV and snowmachine traffic beside the road?
3. Are school bus and public transportation bus stops being considered in this plan?
4. Why add shoulders to the road?  Won’t they just encourage faster driving and increase pedestrian traffic?
5. Will the road have accommodation for plowed snow in the winter?
6. Would gravel shoulders work for Fairview Loop?

Right of Way

1. What have surveyors been doing on private property along Fairview Loop?
2. Will the project be adding to the right of way along the entire road?
3. How will I know if my property will be impacted by right of way requirements?
4. What are my rights as a property owner if the project will require some of my land?

Abbreviations/Definitions or Often Used Terms

Project Scope

The State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) is beginning a project to rehabilitate Fairview Loop from its connection with Parks Highway on the east to its connection with Knik-Goose Bay Road on the west. The 11-mile project will result in a restored roadbed with possibly wider lanes, shoulders and minor realignment depending on motor vehicle crash history.

The project is State funded with a combination of funds. The initial $22 million dollars was funded through bond issue voted on by Alaskans throughout the state. Additional funding, in the amount of $4.5 million was added to the project in 2010 by the Alaska Legislature. The $4.5 million is designated for multi-use pathway along the road to serve pedestrians and bicyclists.

3R Analysis

A resurfacing, restoration, and rehabilitation “3R” analysis precedes design work for the Fairview Loop project. The analysis provides a review the geometry of the existing road, in concert with the crash statistics and makes recommendations to improve the overall safety of the road. The Fairview Loop “3R” analysis can be found here (pdf).

Public Involvement Process

When will public input be requested?
Public input is sought throughout project development. The earlier the team receives your detailed comments, the more likely we can accommodate your request in the project design. Sometimes we will not be able to accommodate your request and will let you know why. Sometimes we will need further information to evaluate the feasibility of incorporating your ideas into the project.

How can I let the project team know about my concerns and observations?
You may send a letter, email or fax. You may call any team member.  An important part of the public involvement coordinator’s job is to document comment for the record and work with the team to respond.

How is the final design decision for Fairview Loop reached?
Design decisions for Fairview Loop will be made in consultation with the Fairview Community to the extent possible. However, some design features may be dictated by DOT&PF regulation, policy or best practices. The team will be listening to comments and adjusting the design to accommodate comments to the extent possible. The final decision will rest with the DOT&PF’s project manager.

How is this design effort financed?
This project is being funded with a combination of funds. A bond issue voted on by Alaskans throughout the state funded the initial $22 million dollars.  Additional funding, in the amount of $4.5 million was added to the project in 2010 by the Alaska Legislature. The $4.5 million is designated for pedestrian facilities along the road.

How will construction be funded and when will it take place?
The funding received, all $26.5 million, will cover the costs of survey, design, and some of the construction of the improvements. We do not believe it will cover all the work identified for Fairview Loop, so reductions to the work proposed and/or additional funding may be necessary.

It’s clear that many of the residents along Fairview are concerned about speeds; from the perspective of impacts on residents, and the increase and severity of crashes that are attributed to speeding.

What should the travel speed be? 
To answer this question, we first must understand the role of Fairview Loop Road within the road network. Fairview Loop Road is functionally classified as a collector road. 

The American Association of State Highways and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) A Policy on the Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (GDHS) is a primary reference for roadway design.  AASHTO and other agencies; including Wasilla, MSB, and DOT&PF; generally classify streets under one of three functional classes. Arterial streets are designed to carry large volumes at an efficient speed. Local streets serve the terminal ends of a trip. Collector streets gather and distribute trips between local streets and arterials AASHTO and other agencies further provide sub-categories of the broad classes.  For example arterials may be classified as freeways, expressways, principal or minor arterials and collectors may include major and minor collectors.  

AASHTO indicates that the arterial’s main system function is mobility (higher speed and volume capacity), and the local street’s main function is landside access into individual driveways or parking areas, typically at the end of a trip. Collectors provide a transition link between local streets that directly serve destinations, and arterials, and may provide some direct access to trip ends, for example a residence with a driveway on Fairview.  As such, collectors provide both access and mobility. 

The following figure illustrates mobility and access by classification, and is adapted from AASHTO’s Exhibit 1-5 in the Policy.  It also conceptually annotates street sub-categories upon the continuum of the access-mobility function.

Figure 1- Functional Classification Mobility and Access Relationship

As a collector, Fairview links trips from adjacent residences and neighborhoods to the Knik-Goose Bay Road and Parks Highway Arterials.

AASHTO also provides guidance for assigning design speeds to functional classifications.  For rural collectors in level to rolling terrain and for the traffic volumes on Fairview (1000 to 3000 vehicles daily), the minimum design speeds should be in the 40 to 50 mph range.

How can we achieve lower-speed traffic?
The posted speed limit is 50 miles per hour and will remain. The Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) recommends posting the speed limit at the 85th percentile. Using this recommendation, the design speed is determined by identifying the 85th percentile speed from the speed study (speed at which 85% of drivers are traveling at or below). On Fairview Loop, the 85th percentile speeds are around 55-60 miles per hour. This road is currently classified a collector road (see “What is a collector road?” above) and the posted speed is consistent with the road classification.

One common tool for reducing speeds is to narrow lanes. This project proposes, 11-foot lanes (instead of 12-foot lanes) as a speeding countermeasure. The design team has not yet determined if traffic calming could be included in the design since the design is just getting underway. Once the line and grade work is done, the team will have a better idea of what other speed-reduction elements could be included.

1 - Fairview Loop Speed Study (on straight away sections)

Based on the 85th percentile speeds, a more appropriate posted speed limit might be 55 to 60 mph according to the Alaska Traffic Manual/MUTCD.  In fact, that is the speed range on which the project safety analysis uses. 

The speed data was collected in the straight sections of the road, well away from the horizontal curves of which many require a large reduction of speed to safely negotiate the turns. Of course, some of the sharp curves are sites of multiple crashes and may be attributed to unsafe speeds.

Why are people driving faster than the speed limit?
One reason might be because they feel that they can do so safely.  There are relatively long straight sections between the sharp curves with generous sight lines.  Even though the road is narrow when compared to today’s design standards, the traffic volumes are light, and vehicles may use more of the road pavement width since they aren’t crowded by oncoming traffic.

Another, less obvious reason for the speeding might be that some people that enter or leave Fairview Loop on either end at the intersections with arterials have a very long distance to travel on the collector road.  As such, they elevate their speed to save time, and in essence they use this road like an arterial (with higher mobility, speeds) instead of as its intended collector function.  A solution for this might be to provide more intermediate north-south collectors or arterial corridors to link KGB or Parks to Fairview, for example, the City of Wasilla’s South Mack Extension Project (www.parkshighway44-52.info/southmack).  In fact, as the figure shows, the Mat-Su Borough and City of Wasilla long-range transportation plans calls for new corridors at Hermon and at Fern/Edlund.

Figure 2- Long Range Planning Near Fairview

Would improving horizontal curves increase speeds?
Yes, but only within the proximity of the sharp horizontal curves.  By considering a higher speed curve with a radius no larger than the recommended design speed, we create a more consistent roadway meeting driver expectation, and provide a proven countermeasure that reduces crashes. This type of improvement would be desirable, but has to be proven cost effective and within the available funding.

Is it possible to make this a safety zone?
Safety zones are created to respond to consistently high crash rates along the corridor. While Fairview Loop experiences crashes, they do not occur at a consistent rate that would warrant a safety zone. The project team will analyze the high crash frequency locations and discuss mitigation measures.

Can we reduce the speed limit on certain curves or sections of road?
Horizontal curves with safe speeds less than the posted speed limit will be identified with curve warning signs that indicate the safe operating speed on the curve.  School zones can warrant reduces speeds.

Is it possible to increase coverage by troopers to catch speeders/drunk driving?
It is possible to increase coverage by law enforcement, but this is not something the design team can do. Residents can call Dispatch at 352-5401 and dial 1 for the Troopers when they have concerns about driver behavior.

What about the drivers who use Fairview Loop as a cut through?
It is clear that residents are concerned about use of Fairview Loop as a cut-through. While the project team will continue to keep this concern in mind as design options are researched, there is reason to believe that most vehicles are not currently using this as a cut-through route. A traffic study of the road showed Average Daily Traffic at the west end, middle, and east end of Fairview Loop to be 3000, 1000, and 3000, respectively. This shows that the majorities of vehicles are not traveling the entire 11 miles of the loop, and are thus not using it as a cut-through.

Another approach uses Google maps. To travel from the intersection of S. Knik Goose Bay Road and Fairview Loop to the intersection of Fireweed Rd and Fairview Loop, Google maps suggests taking S. Knik-Goose Bay and AK-3 (Parks Highway), at an estimated 13 minutes. Using the Fairview Loop option is estimated at 19 minutes.

Traffic Calming

The design team has not yet determined if traffic calming should be included in the design since the design is just getting underway. Once the line and grade work is done, the team will have a better idea of what elements could be included. The design team welcomes suggestions from residents and users regarding traffic calming.

See www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/tcalm for more information about traffic calming.

Safety on Curves & Turns

How can we increase safety on the 90° turns or blind corners on Fairview Loop?
DOT&PF indicated that 3 or 4-way stops at several locations, like the 90-degree curves, might be one of the calming devices used to slow traffic or otherwise improve safety. One of the most effective ways to correct safety issues on sharp curves is to increase the radius so that the curve maneuver speed more closely matches approach speeds (see table above).  In doing so, the alignment becomes more consistent and driver’s expectancy of conditions is not violated. Other considerations to improve safety on curves include improving sight distance by clearing and brushing, installing advance curve warning signs with flashing beacons, reconstructing the curve to include shoulders, increase the “banking” of the curve and adding curve delineators such as “chevron signs” and reflectors.

What are some ways to improve safety at existing intersections?
The design team will look at a number of ways consistent with AASTHO design guidelines, the DOT&PF’s policies, and best practices. Improvements on horizontal and vertical curves and tree and brush cutting will improve intersection sight distances. Improving the consistency of the road will improve safety. Some ways to improve consistency include consistent lane width, consistent road surface, and improved signage. Public input will be specifically solicited at several times during the design process as the project team studies alternatives.

What else can be done to make Fairview Loop a safer road?
The addition of shoulders can reduce run off the road crashes by adding a recovery area.    Also, paved shoulders have been shown to decrease collisions between vehicles and pedestrians walking along the roadway. 

Sharing the Road

Will Snowshoe Elementary School take priority for pedestrian/bicycle paths?
The road design will include a multi-use pathway for its entire length. The current funding is adequate for about 2.5 miles of pathway at this time.  Where the 2.5 miles begins and ends will consider the school’s needs as well as public comments and input.  The project team will be working with the Fairview Safety Committee to identify which segment of multi-use trail to construct first. The school is an important pedestrian traffic origin/destination.

How can we safely accommodate ATV and snow machine traffic beside the road?
ATV and snow machine traffic will not be accommodated with the design. Typically the State of Alaska does not construct facilities for off-highway-vehicles, the category of vehicles that snow machines and 4-wheelers fall into. Current accommodation can occur adjacent to the road using historic trails—with property owner approval.

Are school bus and public transportation bus stops being considered in this plan?
Shoulders are included in the design to address run-off-the road crashes and requests voiced at public meetings to include a refuge for vehicle breakdowns and bus pullouts. The team will coordinate with the principal and public transportation providers during the design phase.

Why add shoulders to the road?  Won’t they just encourage faster driving and increase pedestrian traffic?
The 4-foot shoulders address the run off the road crashes occurring along the corridor. Shoulders are proven method of reducing run-off-the road crashes. When drivers mistakenly drift out of the lane, a paved shoulder increases the chance for the drivers to safely right themselves. When run-off-the road crashes do occur, paved shoulders reduce the severity of these accidents. See Oregon Department of Transportation handout on roadway shoulders (pdf).

Will the road have accommodation for plowed snow in the winter?
Snow storage will be accommodated within the right of way in the roadside drainage ditches.

Would gravel shoulders work for Fairview Loop?
The DOT will not consider the use of gravel shoulders. They are extremely difficult to maintain, and are associated with more safety problems. The gravel shoulder easily forms an abrupt edge, which has the potential to pull a driver off the road. The tendency is for drivers to overcorrect from this, which can lead to head-on collisions.

Right of Way

What have surveyors been doing on private property along Fairview Loop?
The project team has acquired survey data including topography, front and back property corners, and location of utilities. The survey picked up all lot corners because it very important to know where the state owned road right of way exists. This is important because the state has a legal obligation to make sure the improvements are constructed within legal right of way.  One of the project tasks is to prepare updated right of way maps.

Will the project be adding to the right of way along the entire road?
At this time, we don’t have enough information to answer this question. We are working through the survey and developing base maps showing the location of existing rights of way. We will then begin working with you to minimize or mitigate the impacts.

How will I know if my property will be impacted by right of way requirements?
At a Spring 2011 meeting, we will have determined where right-of-way will be needed. We will be able to show you if, and how much, property may be needed for the project. We will then begin working with you to minimize or mitigate the impacts.

What are my rights as a property owner if the project will require some of my land?
When the right-of-way requirements are determined and right-of-way acquisition has begun, the project must follow the specific guidelines outlined in the Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 as Amended. You can download a copy of this document by clicking here (http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/realestate/realprop/index.html).