Every traffic light in Anchorage will be equipped with cameras by the end of summer

City and state transportation officials plan to finish installing cameras at every traffic light in the city over the next summer in hopes of increasing safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

Anchorage achieved the highest number of pedestrian deaths over the past 36 years, according to data provided by the municipal traffic department. Fifteen people had died as of mid-December, including three incidents in which drivers fled the area before police arrived.

Traffic cameras have been instrumental in helping identify drivers involved in hit-and-run collisions, said Brad Coy, director of the city’s traffic engineering department.

Cameras aren’t always able to read license plates, he said, but police can post photos of vehicles and ask the public for help, which can lead to an arrest or a subpoena.

The project aims to reduce the number of collisions through law enforcement and public education, said Anchorage Police Sgt. David Noll wrote in a letter of support.

The city began installing cameras in 2017. Today, there are 283 traffic lights throughout the municipality and all but 82 are equipped with cameras, according to Coy.

Each camera costs about $12,000, bringing the cost of this final installation phase to just under $1 million, he said.

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The state Department of Transportation is funding the additional 82 cameras to “reduce the severity of pedestrian and bicycle crashes by increasing the likelihood that drivers will stop and render assistance, thereby improving the safety of vulnerable road users.” , according to a report. notice on the project.

Many major streets in Anchorage are maintained by the state Department of Transportation, while other roads and intersections are maintained by the city. The city’s traffic department operates and maintains the traffic signal network, including the cameras, Coy said.

The cameras store footage for up to three days, which can be valuable to police or members of the public involved in collisions. Traffic Department accepts footage requests online.

Alexa Dobson, executive director of Bike Anchorage, said the cameras provide clear perspectives and facts about the collision that would otherwise be lost.

“Law enforcement can question the driver and find out what he thinks happened, but you can’t ask the pedestrian what happened because he’s dead,” he said. she declared. “The information you get from these traffic cameras can be very important to understanding the full context, and often it’s not as clear as a picture, so it’s important to have all that information.”

Dobson said the death toll in Anchorage this year was “absolutely heartbreaking.”

“We don’t want to see another person die on our roads while they’re just trying to get to work, school or the grocery store,” she said. “We think that’s not really what a healthy, thriving city should look like.”

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