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Assembly considers resolution urging DOT to study lowering East End Road speed limit to 35 mph
Summary
Assemblymember Cooper introduced a resolution asking the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to review and consider lowering the East End Road speed limit from 45 mph to 35 mph to match neighboring municipalities and address safety concerns; the road appears on the Safe Roads priority list.
Assemblymember Cooper introduced a resolution asking the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to conduct a speed-limit review on East End Road and evaluate reducing the posted limit from 45 miles per hour to 35 miles per hour.
The resolution, presented as a lay-down item and described as eligible for the consent agenda, was framed as an effort to align the posted speed with neighboring municipalities. "Kachemak City has been asking for a reduced speed limit to 35 for years and have not gotten any response," Cooper said, citing local business traffic and a high volume of vehicles on a short stretch of road between Rochelle Road and Kachemak Drive.
Cooper said the stretch includes more than 35 businesses over about a mile and a half and noted recent accidents in that area. She said the change would match speed limits in adjacent municipalities and potentially improve safety where there are no turn lanes on the state-maintained section.
Assemblymember Dunn recalled earlier petitions for speed reductions in other locations that have not produced DOT action and asked whether DOT had been contacted. Cooper replied that DOT had been unresponsive but that the section appears as priority number 10 in the Safe Roads plan, which could make movement on the request more likely.
Cooper told the committee she planned to put the resolution on the consent agenda unless a member objected. The committee did not take a formal final vote on the resolution during the meeting.
Next steps: Cooper indicated the item would be placed on the consent agenda for a future meeting unless someone requested otherwise, and the borough expects any DOT review to follow DOT's safety-study process.
