Legislature(2005 - 2006)BUTROVICH 205
03/09/2006 01:30 PM Senate TRANSPORTATION
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB271 | |
| SB304 | |
| SB300 | |
| SB261 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| = | SB 261 | ||
| = | SB 271 | ||
| = | SB 300 | ||
| = | SB 304 | ||
SB 261-REGULATION OF HWYS; TRAFFIC OFFENSES
CHAIR HUGGINS announced SB 261 to be up for discussion.
JOHN MacKINNON, Deputy Commissioner, Department of
Transportation and Public Facilities (DOTPF), referred to a map
showing 28 years' worth of accidents on the Seward Highway
between Girdwood and Potter's Marsh. He remarked that the high
accident rates were mostly the result of driver behavior. He
explained that the bill allows segments of road to be identified
that have a high rate of accidents and establishes a safety
corridor where the fines are higher and enforcement more
stringent.
2:08:24 PM
SENATOR FRENCH asked if the designation of "safety corridor"
included a role for the Department of Public Safety (DPS) since
the state troopers enforce the law.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON replied that he wanted to have
very close coordination and cooperation with the Department of
Public Safety. He said the original bill stated that the
department would designate portions of a highway to be traffic
safety corridors and he had proposed a clarifying amendment that
says the commissioner of the Department of Transportation shall
consult with commissioner of Public Safety as follows:
24G-2
2/21/2006
AMENDMENT 1
Page 1, line 6, following "corridors":
Insert "; fines"
Page 1, line 8:
Delete "by posting signs at the beginning and end
of the corridor."
Insert ". The commissioner shall establish
criteria for the designation and continuation of
traffic safety corridors. In establishing the
criteria, the commissioner may consider accident data
and reports, the type and volume of vehicular traffic,
engineering and traffic studies, and other relevant
factors. Before the department designates a traffic
safety corridor, the commissioner shall consult with
the commissioner of public safety and may consult with
other local, state, and federal agencies with
responsibility for traffic safety."
Page 1, line 10, following "AS 28.40.070.":
Insert "The department shall erect signs
designating traffic safety corridors and alerting the
public that motor vehicle and traffic offenses
committed within a corridor are subject to double
fines."
Page 1, line 11, following "designation":
Insert "of"
Page 1, line 12:
Delete "posting of"
Insert "erection of signs regarding"
Page 2, line 23:
Delete "posted"
Insert "on which signs have been erected
designating that portion"
Page 2, following line 24:
Insert a new bill section to read:
"* Sec. 6. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska
is amended by adding a new section to read:
TRANSITION. (a) Notwithstanding the requirements
of AS 28.40.070(b), added by sec. 4 of this Act, and
AS 37.05.142 that fines collected under AS 28.40.070
for offenses committed in a traffic safety corridor be
accounted for separately, the Alaska Court System
shall deposit such money collected in the general
fund.
(b) Subsection (a) of this section applies to
collections at a court location where separate
accounting for traffic safety corridor fines is not
achievable. The administrative director of the Alaska
Court System shall notify the Department of
Administration when such a court location is able to
separately account for fines imposed and collected
under AS 28.40.070 for offenses committed in a traffic
safety corridor."
Renumber the remaining bill section accordingly.
2:10:03 PM
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON said he had a public meeting with
the State Troopers in Wasilla recently in which he showed them
the department's highway maps. He referenced the one behind the
chairman showing the Knik/Goose Bay Road that indicated the
fatal accident locations for the years 1977 through 2005. It was
the top road in the state as far as accidents go. The Troopers
thought it was an opportunity to focus enforcement in those
areas.
2:11:01 PM
SENATOR FRENCH remarked that the maps were valuable and he
wondered what efforts the department was making with regard to
publicizing this information. He emphasized that it was worth
getting the word out beyond this hearing. Most people would like
to be able to know where the accidents happen.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON noted the Wasilla meeting two
weeks ago and said that the department would be meeting on April
th
4 with the joint Palmer/Wasilla Chamber of Commerce to give
them a similar presentation for their area. The Matanuska-
Susitna Borough has three bad road segments that involved driver
behavior issues.
2:12:32 PM
SENATOR FRENCH said he is a member of the Department of Public
Safety Budget Subcommittee and wanted to show these maps to the
commissioner at some point.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON agreed to provide him with those
maps mounted. Speaking to the proposed amendment, he noted it
would give the commissioner of DOTPF direction on what criteria
and factors to consider in designating the safety corridors and
requires consultation with the DPS commissioner. The new Section
6 was requested by the court system and covered accounting for
the double fines. It allowed a portion of the increased penalty
to go back to the department to be used for increased
enforcement and education programs.
He also provided the committee with a draft of the criteria that
would be used in establishing the traffic zones in their traffic
manual. Being in the manual would allow them to make quicker
adjustments if certain criterion is not adequate or too
stringent. It also contains thresholds for triggering and
decommissioning traffic safety corridors that were recommended
by their traffic engineers.
2:15:24 PM
SENATOR FRENCH moved to adopt Amendment 1, labeled 24G-2,
2/21/2006. There were no objections and it was so ordered.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON explained that using an average of
three years to measure fatal, plus major injury rate, per mile
of corridor falls was a minimum amount of time to establish any
statistical significance. He didn't want to see corridors
lasting forever and didn't want them put everywhere. He didn't
want more than 10 statewide and preferably only five or six,
because when too many are used, they lose their impact.
2:17:00 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS mentioned requiring headlights to be turned on.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON acknowledged that could be done.
2:17:38 PM
JEFF OTTESEN, Director, Division of Program Development,
Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, said that
topic had been dear to his heart for about 20 years. Both
Scandinavia and Canada require headlights year round. Research
has shown that in high latitude locations, a lot of the day is
at low sun angles and that causes long shadows across the road -
and in Alaska, we have dirty cars. The combination of a grey,
dark car in shadow makes it hard to see. Mandatory headlights
have been shown to reduce accidents by as much as 20 percent in
those locations. He couldn't think of anything else that would
yield such a benefit for such a low cost.
2:18:57 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS said he wanted to look at the possibility of such
a mandatory requirement.
MR. OTTESEN said he thought that would be an excellent addition
to this bill.
SENATOR KOOKESH opined that should be part of the criteria and
not part of the bill.
CHAIR HUGGINS understood that and he also wanted a definition of
"rural roads".
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON said the Parks Highway would be
considered a rural road.
SENATOR KOOKESH asked if it wasn't in the city limits.
MR. OTTESEN explained that the definition of rural and urban
usually fell to the census bureau definition, which looks at the
total population and density. Most of Mat-Su remains rural.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON added that on the rural highway
segments, accidents are mostly head-on collisions and running
off the road, whereas in urban situations, they tend to be
intersection-related.
2:21:36 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS said they had also talked about having digital
read out speed signs and asked if that would fit within the
$5,000 budget for a corridor.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON replies yes. That would be the
cost of putting up non-electronic signs. A number of reader
boards and speed carts are on order.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if they were expensive.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON replied they are a few tens of
thousands. Small signs that are attached to the same standard
are more reasonably priced.
2:22:46 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if he was confident that a large number of
communities wouldn't qualify with the criteria he has drafted.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON replied yes.
CHAIR HUGGINS asked what others he anticipated qualifying.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON replied in the Central Region
between Anchorage and Seward, probably three or four segments
could be considered safety corridors. In fact, all the sections
could be considered as one corridor. Wasilla has three. Data
from the Northern Region hadn't been crunched yet.
2:24:20 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked if making a whole segment of highway a
safety corridor was a good idea.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON replied that the stretch from
Potter Marsh to Girdwood definitely fits the criteria and it
makes sense to include small stretches that don't fit the
criteria with the larger stretches.
2:26:57 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS asked how detailed the process is for
decommissioning the corridors.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON replied that two of three "Es" -
education and enforcement - could be applied immediately to any
corridor. Engineering would involve reconstruction of the road,
but that would follow in many cases and, therefore, takes
longer.
2:28:53 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS said there should be a review process for this
issue next year.
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER MacKINNON agreed and said he wouldn't pass
up an opportunity to "blow our own horn." He explained that his
highway engineers do highway safety improvement programs (HSIP),
which are a lot of little construction projects in sections that
have high accident rates. As soon as those improvements are
made, their effectiveness is measured - with an almost instant
success rate. "You put the turn-lanes in and you start seeing
fewer and fewer accidents."
2:30:30 PM
SENATOR FRENCH said the bill doesn't give the commissioner power
to order that headlights lights be on and he asked if that
authority exist someplace else either in regulation or statute.
MR. OTTESEN said he wasn't aware of that authority, so it might
be a good minor addition to this bill. He added that he could
provide research.
SENATOR FRENCH surmised that all the committee members thought
it would be a good idea.
2:31:52 PM
CHAIR HUGGINS suggested the aforementioned modification could be
made in the next committee of referral.
2:32:04 PM
SENATOR FRENCH moved to report CSSB 261(TRA) from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note. Without
objection, CSSB 261(TRA) was reported from the Senate
Transportation Standing Committee.
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