🚧 This page is a work in progress 🚧
This is the official landing page for news and happenings related to the Trainor Gate and F Street intersection in Fairbanks, Alaska. We hope to tell the story and prepare you for the plans ahead! If you have any questions, please contact Jackson Fox at jackson.fox@fastplanning.us.
The story to tell
This intersection has long been a problem. The traffic at peak times of the day can be daunting for both pedestrians – mainly students – and drivers. We have heard first hand from children who attend the adjacent Tanana Middle and Ladd Elementary schools that they’re not allowed to walk to school because of the dangers associated with the driver behavior here.
In 2012, during our Safe Routes to School program development, this intersection was identified as unsafe and needing reconstruction. A series of funding events occurred and a project that was once programmed, fell out of the program.
Tanana Middle School student sustains serious injuries after being hit by car
The existing design of the roadway lends to wide-open right-of-way that encourages speeding, even through a posted school zone.
Additionally, the configuration of the intersection, mixed the purpose it serves, creates a lot of mystery for safe movements as a driver. Oftentimes, we observed drivers inching out into the intersection over several minutes, often idling on top of the west-east crosswalk without regard to its queued or potential users. The stop signs at F Street act as yield signs, drivers frequently roll the stop sign at the railroad tracks to be able to see, and the right turn from north F Street behaves more like a slip lane.
Add in train crossings, school bus traffic, and the blind spots that large vehicles create, and you’ve got yourself a Wild West of an intersection.
A SENSE OF ownership
We have been working with the principal, a teacher, and students at Tanana Middle School to collect data on the intersection in preparation for an Asphalt Art project.
FAST Planning Staff, in collaboration with these students, have stood at the intersection for nearly 40 hours to gather speed, vehicle movement, pedestrian movement, and yielding compliance data. Additionally, we’ve gathered timelapse and aerial footage of the intersection as it “functions” now.
THE DATA
COMING SOON!
We are currently organizing and processing the data that our students collected. It is powerful and tells the story further.
| Date & Time Slot | Speed Data | Vehicle Movements | Trainor Gate to FWW (W & E) | Vehicle Movements | F Street to Schools (S & N) | Non-motorized Movements/Counts | Trainor Gate to FWW (W & E) | Non-motorized Movements/Counts | F Street to Schools (S & N) |
|---|
THE pilot
Get ready for more Asphalt Art! FAST Planning has been coordinating with the City of Fairbanks, State of Alaska DOT&PF, The Alaska Railroad Corporation, the United States Army, and the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District to develop and implement an Asphalt Art project that will narrow up the intersection, shorten crossing distances for walkers and bikers, and provide heightened visibility for much-needed change at the intersection.
The green shapes in the images above show the proposed changes to the intersection. In early July, we will paint the green shapes into the roadway, featuring art that’s inspired by submissions from two students who were involved in the study.
We will apply vertical delineators (tall, plastic, flexi-posts) around the artwork to elevate the messaging to drivers at this intersection.
PATHWAY TO PERMANENCE
FAST Planning’s Transportation Improvement Program project nomination cycle is approaching. The City of Fairbanks intends to nominate this intersection for a permanent reconstruction. After project nomination scoring, the hope is that this project will be prioritized and funded in the 5-year funding cycle that the TIP covers.
Coming in the fall, after the Asphalt Art treatment has been applied, Alaska DOT&PF and the City of Fairbanks will install additional, semi-permanent improvements. Speed tables will be installed 200 ft from the intersection on either side and additional signage will be installed before and at the crosswalk. The City will be adding a blinking yellow light above the crosswalk for when school is in session.
Fairbanks mayor urges renewed efforts for Trainor Gate Road safety improvements