Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

This fall Governor Walker has been weighing the pros and cons of proceeding with the Juneau road extension. The project entails fifty miles of new pavement, which would dead end at a ferry terminal on the uninhabited Katzehin River delta across the Lynn Canal from Haines.

As residents of Petersburg and Wrangell know, long roads with short shuttle ferries have not worked out as hoped for in Southeast Alaska. The South Mitkof and Coffman Cove terminals, while beautiful facilities, have been largely shuttered since they were built. Southeast Alaska’s population is too low and the distances are too far for this type of system to work economically. In fact, the state’s extensive study on the Juneau road extension echoes this real-life example; if built the Katzehin road and shuttle ferry would cost the state $5 million more each year than the current community-to-community Marine Highway System.

Unfortunately, if the Governor proceeds with the $574 million Juneau road extension, Southeast may not have the funds needed to invest in the ferry system or keep our existing roads smooth and safe. While proponents of the Juneau road would have you believe that just a little more money is needed to make the project a go, the truth is only about one percent of the cost is included in the Department of Transportation’s budget, known as the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.

Meanwhile DOT is planning to take three aging mainline vessels off-line by 2024. A new replacement vessel is estimated to cost $240 million, but this also is not in the budget. According to DOT’s Draft Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan, the state will only construct new vessels “if the funds are available”. You can bet those funds will not be available if the Governor proceeds with a half-billion dollar dead-end road.

With Haines and Skagway consistently and firmly opposed to the Juneau road extension and Juneau lukewarm on the idea at best, Governor Walker should do right by all Southeast communities, choose the no action alternative, and instead invest in the Marine Highway System. After all, for the cost of half a road Southeast Alaska could have two new mainline vessels.

Emily Ferry

Deputy Director, SE AK Conservation Council