Some safety improvements are underway on Back Loop Road near Mendenhall River Community School, where three pedestrians were hit by a vehicle last month, and more are being considered both in the short- and long-term, according to city and school district officials.
Reflectors have been placed on warning signs approaching the school’s entrance and upgraded lighting is scheduled to be installed soon at the entrance itself, Juneau School District Superintendent Frank Hauser said Tuesday. He said changing some of the city bus stops near the school, which are along an unlit stretch of the road, is also a possibility.
[School district asks state for safety improvements on Back Loop Road near school following collision]
“I’ve had conversations with Capital Transit about the possibility of moving some of the city bus stops to more well-lit areas and potentially working to help if there are any students that are on the bus to transport them the rest of the way to the school from the bus stop rather than potentially crossing Back Loop Road,” he told the Juneau Board of Education during its meeting Tuesday night.
A overhead view of the area surrounding Mendenhall River Community School shows a plan to relocate a Capital Transit bus stop from Back Loop Road to the less-traveled Tournure Street, which is expected to occur in February. (Google image modified by the City and Borough of Juneau)
The upgraded high-performance LED lighting at the school’s entrance, where one of the city bus stops is, should be ready for installation soon, Hauser said.
The collision that sparked the current concerns occurred shortly before school began at 8 a.m. on Dec. 7, about 40 minutes before sunrise, when a woman with two children sustained injuries that were not life-threatening. The driver of the vehicle was not cited because he was not found to be at fault, according to the Juneau Police Department.
Hauser, the following week, told the school board he was asking the Alaska Department of Transporation and Public Facilities to consider safety improvements since the state, rather than the City and Borough of Juneau, is responsible for the road. A preliminary meeting he described as productive took place between school, city and DOT officials on Dec. 18.
“The Department of Transportation has already increased visual aids around (the school) with flags on the signs indicating a school zone and they’re also looking at other possible flashing caution lights as possible short-term solutions,” he said. “For the long term the Department of Transportation is starting to collect student pedestrian and vehicular traffic data, and is going to put together a gap analysis on Back Loop Road. The analysis will help with potential safety grants that the Department of Transportation might be able to apply for to provide additional safety improvements to the roadway.”
A public meeting by the school board’s facilities committee to discuss safety options along the road is scheduled Jan. 18, which a DOT traffic safety engineer will attend, Hauser said.
Among the options the city considered was lighting at the nearby Capital Transit bus stops, but complications arose with providing electricity in the state’s right-of-way zone, Juneau City Manager Katie Koester wrote in an email Tuesday. She stated “the more elegant and safe solution” is eliminating the bus stop across the street from the entrance of the school, which is little-used, and rerouting the Valley Express bus that stopped there to another pedestrian access point to the school on Tournure Street, which connects to Riverside Drive.
“Capital Transit is still working on some logistical details, but this change should take effect in February,” she wrote.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
