In the next month, Alaska's Legislature will decide the future of the wilderness north of Juneau and the use of state and federal money for years to come. In February Governor Sean Parnell announced the state budget included a $35 million earmark to extend Juneau's road system north through Berners Bay to the Kensington Mine. From there, the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities claims it plans to use an additional $500 million to extend the proposed road up the east side of Lynn Canal to the Katzehin River, where a new ferry terminal will be constructed. The state is planning to construct two new ferries, currently estimated at $125 million, and to use an existing ferry to shuttle travelers to Haines or Skagway.
Juneau is the biggest city and only state capital in the contiguous U.S. that's not connected to the civilized world by road. The state ferries are expensive to maintain and have a limited sailing calendar and carrying capacity. Alaska Airlines isn't cheap, and winter weather can ground flights for days. The country north of Juneau is one of the most ecologically intact sections of temperate rainforest left in the world, but according to DOT, the road makes economic sense to build.
Jeff Ottesen, DOT Director of Program Development, claimed at a March 4th legislative hearing that building the road would be about cutting down costs and increasing the quantity of vehicles able to travel to and from the capital city. Ottesen said ferries use more than half of the state's transportation budget and represent only 1 percent of miles traveled. He claimed by building the road, one, maybe, two main-liner ferries could be eliminated. Ottesen said a typical mainline ferry, over a 50-year lifespan, costs the state $1.72 billion with 30 percent of cost recovered through passenger fares.
I'm a lifelong Alaskan who's kayaked, hiked, hunted, trapped, fished, guided and wandered Berners Bay and Lynn Canal for more than a decade. Even though I greatly value the wild places of our state, I understand the difficulty of using a "save the environment" argument against building the road.
So, instead, here's an argument rooted in responsible economics, safety and quality of life.
Many people opposed to the construction of the road feel there's something fishier than normal going on in Southeast. Many cite economics and quality of life, well before environmental health, as the very reasons the project should be squashed. Clay Good, a life-long resident of Juneau and high school teacher, spoke against building the road at the March hearing.
"I've never seen a project in Alaska, particularly a megaproject, that came in anywhere near close to what it was projected," he said, summing up a lot of people's feelings that DOT is lowballing the cost of the road.
One of the many unknowns is how DOT plans to build for and mitigate avalanches along the proposed route. Having intimate knowledge of much of the proposed route's mountainous terrain, $523 million doesn't seem to be nearly enough to build a road that can be safely traveled during the winter and spring. The road would cross beneath 36 avalanche paths and stretch along miles of cliffs. A howitzer, which is used frequently for avalanche control on most other mountainous highways, would be nearly impossible to use. There's nowhere besides a barge in Lynn Canal where a cannon could be stationed. Using helicopters to drop explosives wouldn't be reliable due to days, even weeks, when helicopters couldn't fly because of bad weather. The only reasonably safe option would be to build miles of tunnels beneath avalanche slopes and use numerous fixed exploders. Both of which would be incredibly expensive for the state; without this infrastructure, driving the road during much of the year would be a game of Russian Roulette. It's good to remember that no one's been killed in our history as a result of our ferries.
I'm not sure how building, then maintaining a dangerous road and having people drive an additional 77 miles past Juneau's current ferry terminal to another ferry terminal will make traveling in and out of Juneau easier or cheaper. With all the economic, safety, environmental and ethical questions the road project brings up, it's no wonder why a large number of Southeast Alaskans and others are questioning the rationality behind constructing it. I, and many others, can't help but wonder if this project is more about our tax dollars being spent to build a road to the Kensington Mine and to help develop other privately owned mining claims than it is for better, cheaper and safe access in and out of Juneau.
This project seems like an economic and environmental disaster for our state.
Bjorn Dihle is a lifelong Alaskan resident who works as a commercial fisherman, guide and writer.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.