What’s wrong with our pedestrian facilities and what does the plan propose?
Downtown Fairbanks lacks connectivity among bicycle and pedestrian amenities and downtown mobility is dominated by the automobile, principally as through-traffic. To be a successful “mixed-use” environ where Fairbanksans can live and work and play, downtown needs to be very accessible to pedestrians and other modes of travel. The Plan encourages downtown-wide awareness of bettering pedestrian facilities. Among the specific projects proposed in the Plan, a pedestrian and bike loop would follow 8th Ave to Cowles to the existing Chena waterfront to Lacey Street, back to 8th featuring wider sidewalks, signage and traffic calming measures where appropriate. Additionally, a shared off-street multi-use trial is planned on the west side of Barnette connecting the existing Chena waterfront trails with those bike paths along Airport connecting to Fort Wainright to the east and Noel Wien Library to the west.
