Whether it's Bill Walker or Sean Parnell in the governor's office for the next four years, I sure hope whoever wins makes curtailing the dead-end Juneau road a top priority. Cutting this boondoggle is one of easiest ways to trim the budget and begin focusing on the priorities that will move Alaska forward.
We know local communities don't want the Juneau road extension (at recent hearings in Juneau, Haines and Skagway, opposition ricocheted through the fjord louder than ever). We know spending over half a billion dollars on the road is double DOT's budget for new construction for the entire Southeast region for the same time period. And of course, we know building this road won't mean that anyone will actually be able to drive to Juneau -- you will still need to take a ferry to get to the capital city.
But here's what really gets me. For years, Alaska Department of Transportation officials have been saying the ferry system costs too much to operate in Lynn Canal. They've argued that the most cost-effective transportation out of Juneau is a road.
It turns out that DOT's own studies -- and real life experiments -- have proven them wrong.
DOT's latest study on the Juneau road extension reveals that it will actually be cheaper for the state to stick with the existing ferry system, to the tune of $5 million per year.
As the study showed, dealing with over 40 avalanche chutes, five tunnels, a centerline that dips below mean high tide and three bridges that will be among the longest in the state is a recipe for high maintenance and operation costs.
So, in addition to spending more than a half-billion dollars constructing this road, the state will have to come up with $20.4 million each year to keep the road open and drivable. That's $5 million more from the state's general fund each and every year than would be required if we just maintained the already existing and very functional ferry service.
Road engineers argue that their dream has always been to build roads crisscrossing the islands of Southeast Alaska. We tried that already, and it didn't work. As Pat Forgey wrote in a Sept. 14 article, there are now two virtually abandoned ferry terminals at the end of long, dead-end roads on Mitkof and Prince of Wales islands. We don't need another one north of Juneau.
As maintenance needs on existing roads and bridges are overlooked, as our ports and harbors have their restoration needs passed by, and as schools across the state continue to cut teaching positions, are we really comfortable spending $574 million on a dead-end road that will ultimately be more expensive to maintain than the existing ferry service?
What we do need is a governor who is willing to make decisions based on the merits of a project. Especially in the time of budget deficits, that means saying no to mega-projects when studies reveal they just don't pencil out. In the case of the Juneau road extension, that decision should be pretty easy to make.
Anissa Berry is a former commercial pilot. She lives in Juneau and frequently enjoys the ferry ride to Haines and Skagway.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.