Anchorage police ask public for help in identifying worst intersections for red light runners

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - It started as a post on the Anchorage Police Department’s Facebook page asking the public to name the intersections with the most frequent red light runners. APD Traffic Unit Supervisor Sgt. David Noll said he got at least 200 responses in a short period of time and was able to rank the intersections in order.

East 36th Avenue and the New Seward Highway came out on top, followed by Boniface Parkway and East Northern Lights Boulevard.

Coming in third place was East 20th Avenue and Lake Otis Parkway.

There were several ties for fourth place:

• C Street and West Tudor Road
• Lake Otis Parkway and East Tudor Road
• Bragaw Street and East Northern Lights Boulevard

Rounding out the top five in the list of Anchorage intersections was C Street and West Northern Lights Boulevard.

Noll said the department also analyzed which Anchorage intersections had the most collisions caused by red light runners.

None of the aforementioned seven intersections made the list. Instead, the top three were Sixth Avenue and Gambell Street; Sixth Avenue and C Street; and Fifth Avenue and Gambell Street.

Noll said drivers in Anchorage can expect to see more enforcement at those hot spots.

“The traffic unit has six traffic enforcement officers and I’ve already shared information with them regarding what intersections to direct their efforts towards,” Noll said. “I’m also going to share some of this data with patrol officers because ... even though if traffic isn’t their primary duty while they are out and about, they will have the opportunity to do some enforcement as well.”

Noll said the department already issues citations for red light runners but the enforcement needs to be more visible. A ticket for running a red light means four points on one’s driver’s license as well as a $200 fine.

“What you might more likely see is multiple officers working at the same intersections at the same time because that will make a greater impression on people driving by,” Noll said.

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