Safety Section
The Safety Section staff play an integral role in the design and functionality of municipal streets and roadways, including such tasks as intersection improvements, sign changes and placement, development reviews, traffic impact analysis studies, and traffic calming methods. Our goal is to create safer roadways and more efficient traffic patterns. Below you will find detailed information on several different functions of the Safety and Engineering staff.
The Safety Section also produces several different helpful and informative publications for the general public, which can be viewed and downloaded here.
Pre-planned activities sponsored by an individual or organization that affect city and/or state public Right-of-Way (roads, sidewalks, pathways), such as an entertainment event, recreational activities, competitions, and other activities, may require a Right-Of-Way Special Activity Permit (SAP) to be obtained before the event is held. The following permit applications must be completed and submitted 30 days prior to the scheduled activity. A Certificate of Insurance and a certified traffic control plan may be required.
Right-Of-Way Special Activity Permit Application
Right-Of-Way Special Activity Permit Fees
Anchorage Fire Dept. Operational Permit Application
Anchorage Fire Dept. Request For Standby Medic Application (Please submit directly to AFD for review & approval)
Anchorage Health Dept. Noise Permit Application
(Note: Some events may require a
Food Vendor Event Organizer Form. Please
contact AHD for questions or to find out if your event requires this form.)
Anchorage Police Dept. Request For Officers Application
People occasionally forget when they are driving in a neighborhood that they are not only placing themselves at risk, but that their lack of consideration: speeding, failing to obey regulatory signs, etc. place pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers at risk for being injured.
To help address the concerns of the residents of the Municipality's neighborhoods, the Municipality of Anchorage has established a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Program and publishes a Neighborhood Traffic Calming Newsletter on a quarterly basis.
Techniques are available to address conditions where the large majority of the traffic has been established by traffic studies to be traveling at - and exceeding - the posted or the maximum speed limit established under Alaska State law or are using neighborhood streets to avoid congested arterial intersections.
Speed humps, often suggested, are not always the best means for addressing these concerns since they can delay the arrival of emergency vehicles: fire apparatus, APD, and ambulances. Alternative types of calming devices are available.
Working with the community councils is a way for grant funds to become available for construction if warranted.
For further information and publications, please visit our
Traffic Calming page, or call the Traffic Department at 343-8406.
The safety of our children going to and from school is a critically important issue for all of us.
To help address the concerns of the residents or area families, the Municipality of Anchorage updates its
Safe Routes to School Manual on an annual basis and publishes a School Area Traffic Safety Manual for use by parents, educators and administrators from the Anchorage School District, and Municipal staff.
The
Safe Routes to School Manual is prepared annually by the Municipal Traffic Department. The purpose of the manual is to assist students that walk to school or to a bus stop in following the safest and best route.
The
School Area Traffic Safety Manual (SATSM) acts as the Municipality of Anchorage's supplement to the Federal Highway Administration's
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) and the
State's Alaska Traffic Manual Supplement (ATMS) for the methods by which the MOA will evaluate, sign, mark and provide other traffic control devices in school zones on Municipal and State roads. The manual also includes the evaluation process that the Municipal Traffic Engineer will use in identifying candidate locations for marked crosswalks, reduced speed school zones, and other school area related traffic safety devices.
Please note the addition of our Drug Free School Zone sign revision, which can be found
here.
2021 revisions to the School Area Traffic Safety Manual can be found here:
Revision 1 Summary of Changes (April 2021)
Revised Pages (April 2021)
Revision 1 Summary of Changes / Revised Pages COMBINED (April 2021)
If you have further questions, please call the Traffic Department at 343-8406.
When a property owner wishes to develop or redevelop a property, subdivide, construct an apartment or condominium, build a new store or shopping center, a Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) may be required by the Municipal Traffic Engineer.
In addition, this analysis may be required to be submitted to the
State of Alaska Department of Transportation.
The Traffic Impact Analysis helps the Municipality establish the requirements to help offset the impacts that the proposed development will have on the rest of the community.
Additional requirements may typically be required, including the construction of roadway improvements on the frontage of the site and internal roadways in accordance with the
Official Streets and Highways Plan, the
Municipal Design Criteria Manual, the
Municipality of Anchorage Standard Specifications and
Title 21 of the Municipal Code.
For your convenience, the Municipal Traffic Department has created a
Traffic Impact Analysis Policy which may assist you in preparing a TIA.
If you have further questions, please call the Traffic Department at 343-8406.
The Paint & Sign Shop manufactures, installs, and maintains all traffic control signing for the Municipality of Anchorage. These signs also include street identification, transit stops, motorist regulation/information, and special needs identification signage. Additionally, the Paint & Sign Shop applies all traffic control pavement markings within the right-of-way as well as school and pedestrian crosswalks.
To report a missing or damaged sign during normal office hours, please contact the Traffic Department at 343-8406. During evenings, weekends and holidays, please call our after hours line at 343-4384.
