Members of the Alaska Senate spoke critically at a Dec. 5 hearing about a proposed new ferry terminal in Juneau, questioning why the project would be worth its multimillion-dollar cost.
Earlier this year, legislators planned to divert $62 million from a variety of transportation projects — including the controversial ferry terminal — in order to pay for the state’s share of federal transportation grants worth between $500 million and $600 million.
Lawmakers included the diversion in their budget for the year to preserve the federal money, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed the maneuver, saying that the “funding is either still obligated in the original project or has been fully expended and is unavailable for reappropriation.”
That left legislators’ spending plan for transportation projects partially unfunded.
One of lawmakers’ biggest targets this past spring to divert funding to other projects was the Department of Transportation’s plan to build a second ferry terminal for Juneau, roughly 30 miles north of the existing terminal in Auke Bay, at a place called Cascade Point, which would shorten ferry runs to Haines and Skagway.
Legislators sought to divert $37 million from an account intended to fund that new terminal, but Dunleavy vetoed the transfer and the Department of Transportation subsequently signed a $28.5 million contract for initial work on the terminal.
In October, the state’s public advisory board for the ferry system concluded that the project likely did not make economic sense.
“Do you agree with that study?” asked Nikiski Sen. Jesse Bjorkman during a Dec. 5 hearing of the Senate Transportation Committee.
“Can you please make the case to the Alaska people why you think investing this money … in the Cascade Point project makes fiscal sense for Alaskans?”
Critics have complained that the new terminal would be far from the airport, health care facilities and shopping, without reliable or affordable transportation options.
Alaska Transportation Commissioner Ryan Anderson responded that “as a public agency, we’re more than economics. In this case, there’s this idea of saving people time with a much shorter run, saving money, the cost of operating that ship, we’re saving fuel. It’s less carbon emissions. I mean, there’s a lot of good benefits to shorter ferry runs.”
According to documents presented to the committee, the Alaska Department of Transportation — without the required state match — has “deferred” about 25 projects one to three years.
Without new money, “fewer projects will move to contract award, limiting construction activity,” the department said.
Anderson told the committee that his agency is prioritizing “shovel ready” projects, those that are about to go to construction.
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