S.E.A.L.

Juneau, Alaska’s capital city, has a population of 31,000 and is unique in that it is cut off from the rest of world by a 1,500 square mile icefield, rugged mountains and ocean. Juneau and other Southeast Alaska communities rely upon ferries and planes for transportation. For many years a battle over whether or not to try to build a road out of Juneau, through one of the wildest tracts of temperate rainforest left in the world, has been raging.

A road out of Juneau may break ground this fall with an infusion of new funding. Republican Gov. Sean Parnell’s capital budget includes $35 million for the Juneau Access Project, and a Senate Finance Committee co-chairman said Tuesday that the request likely will be granted. “I think the governor’s request for the (Juneau Access Project) will stand in the budget,” said Sen. Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage. “The road offers another alternative to the folks down here, so the road’s got merit. It’s just very expensive.”

This third in a series of Easy to Start, Impossible to Finish reports analyzes 10 major transportation andenergy projects in the planning stages in the State of Alaska. The 10 projects likely will cost approximately $16.8 to $17.7 billion with the state having in hand, at a maximum, only 8 percent of the money needed to build the projects. Funding all these projects would increase state debt service by nearly 300 percent, adding $892 million per year, so state leaders should decide whether it makes fiscal sense to proceed with all of these expensive capital projects given their projected limited returns on investment.

For two decades the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) has blocked efforts to punch a highway through the extraordinary Berners Bay and Lynn Canal. Unfortunately, the idea won’t go away and, if the legislature approves the Governor's plan, construction could very well begin this summer. Alaskans need to speak up and let our elected officials know that this “Road to Nowhere” is a bad idea.

The proposed Juneau Road would consist of 51 miles of new road from Echo Cove (approximately 40 miles north of Juneau) to the Katzehin River via the east side of Lynn Canal, a new ferry terminal at the river 90 miles from Juneau rather than the existing terminal 13 miles from Juneau, and new shuttle ferries to Haines (pop. 1,474) and Skagway (pop. 845).

   According to an independent estimate undertaken by the state, the project will cost approximately a half-billion dollars not including cost increases that are likely when the terrain has been fully surveyed. The State of Alaska has spent $25 million to date on the project, and all necessary permits have been issued.

Updated descriptions of project alternatives, project status and timelines from the Department of Transportation.

Ferries are the safest and most reliable method of providing for the movement of people, goods, and services throughout our region. The community of Skagway has a long history of support and advocacy for improved ferry service in Lynn Canal. In 2004 a public vote was held in Skagway in which 62% of the voters supported improved ferry service in Lynn Canal over a road to Juneau. Here is a link to a chronological history of Skagway's position on the Alaska Marine Highway.

Blue Highway begins as a film about a kayak trip tracing the historic Lynn Canal travels of John Muir, but becomes a study of both sides of the battle over the proposed Juneau Access Road. After more than 30 years of debate, is there anything left to say, and can two sides separated by environmental, economic and cultural concerns ever come together?