Have you ever cut through a parking lot to get around traffic or a busy highway? In Kenai, doing so could soon run you a $75 fine. That’s under an ordinance being considered by city council members Wednesday.
Kenai’s struggled in recent months to curb the practice, sometimes called “rat running.” Police Chief Dave Ross said it’s been an especially big problem at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center.
“It’s vehicles speeding across the parking lot there to avoid the traffic signal either going into Old Town Kenai or coming out of Old Town Kenai,” he said. “They avoid the stop sign there on Overland and then they avoid the traffic light.”
Drivers threaten public safety when they cut through parking lots and other public and private property, according to the city. Officials say a fine would discourage cut-throughs and reduce the possibility of car accidents.
City officials have tried to attack the problem in a few ways, with mixed results.
Concrete barriers stopped cut-through traffic, but prompted complaints about aesthetics and restricted access for recreational vehicles. Directional signs helped, but were hard to enforce. Speed bumps slowed traffic, but deteriorated over the winter. And a marked police car was effective, but not sustainable for the long-term. Kenai’s even looked at a $45,000 lot redesign.
But Ross said city administrators in Anchorage and Fairbanks reported success after implementing a fine.
“I think in conjunction with other measures, you know, it could be a deterrent to that,” he said.
Kenai’s proposed language would fine drivers $75 for leaving a road and driving through private or public property for the purpose of accessing another road.
Council member Alex Douthit said he thinks the fine could be a useful tool.
“I think it's going to be one of those things where, in a small community, the first one or two people that get written – that will spread the word quite quickly that we shouldn't be doing that,” he said.
The ordinance is up for introduction Wednesday, with a council vote scheduled for later this month.
