I have created this petition to voice my concerns with a public safety issue related to the new bike/walking paths under construction on O'Malley Road. By signing this petition, you are in favor of the Alaska Department of Transportation addressing pedestrian safety concerns at the Rock Ridge/O'Malley intersection. Addressing these concerns should result in solutions to ensure the safety of O'Malley Elementary School students. O'Malley Road Public Safety Concerns

I am new to the neighborhood and my 9 and 7 year old children attend O'Malley Elementary. My kids are excited to live in a walkable and bikeable community. When we first moved here in May 2021, they immediately asked me if they could bike to school. I hesitated and decided, due to the lack of pathways on O'Malley Road, that this was not a safe choice. I told them the only way they could bike is if I was with them.

In turn, when the development of the bike/walk paths was announced on O'Malley, our family was super excited to be able to bike and walk to school. One of my neighbors brought to my attention that the Department of Transportation intends to have children bike or walk an additional half mile to the Birch intersection to cross O'Malley rather than creating a school crosswalk at Rock Ridge. I am appalled by this decision and it's lack of preventative safety measures. We all know that kids will take the risk to cross O'Malley at Rock Ridge to avoid the extra walk/bike. In turn, approving this plan is openly accepting a potential safety hazard that we are all aware of.

I have observed the high speeds and negligence of drivers on O'Malley Road. This is why I declined to allow my kids to bike or walk to school in the first place... but with the development of trails, we are in a great position to provide safe crossing paths with school-based crossing guards to encourage biking/walking and safety. At the very least, there should be a consideration for a school speed zone to slow drivers down during school drop off and pick up hours. I have also witnessed very dangerous turning patterns at this intersection during these same times due to a lack of turning lanes onto Rock Ridge. Now is the ideal time to make these changes to set our community up for safe measures aligned with the addition of the new paths.

On behalf of my family, neighbors and community, I would like to encourage reconsideration of the current plan and exploration of alternative solutions to ensure the safety of my children along with future O'Malley Elementary students.