How many years did the state waste money fighting for this boondoggle? And how much of a transportation problem did the state consider getting the walk-ons from the airport or city center to the new ferry terminal would be? A $100 taxi ride? Maybe the doofuses at the city bus service might have extended the bus route. And no, the population of Skagway has not steadily grown. That's just another lie by the state, which has lied to communities all along.

In an effort to consolidate and perhaps save money the Alaska Marine Highway will be moving its' Juneau Reservation Office to Ketchikan.
Workers in JNU that don't want to move to "K-Town" are looking for new jobs.
Juneaus' loss will be Ketchikans gain.Perhaps loggers in "K-Town", who recently lost their jobs, can be retrained to work in the brand new Ketchikan Central Office.

How much is it going to cost to buy new ferries? How much is it going to cost on a yearly basis to maintain all the ferries? How much are they going to cost in fuel? How much is fuel going to continually rise?

I'm so sick of hearing these people against a road. Really, there is no logical reason not to build the road out of here. "we need to protect the forest", "we need to keep Juneau isolated". Jeez us. This is just one area, an area that could enhance Juneau and move it into a more stable community. Yeah, that sounds good............Stable. A brighter future for Juneau and Juneauites.................Now people, pull your heads out of..........................................wait for it.................................................the sand and vote for the road to be built. Come on now, what did you think I was going to say?

Or do business that requires you to take a load of supplies via vehicle to the rest of the roaded state. Yes, you can cheaply go get stoned in the hot springs at Tenakee. Enjoy.

I remember taking a walk-on to Haines once. Had to find a ride to the Ferry Terminal, then got to Haines and had no idea how to get to town without a CAR.... ended up having to pay some guy to shuttle us - $10 each!
That might not sound like much to you - but that was 2 meals apiece for us.....

a one way to bellingham from juneau is 1200.00 and this doesnt include a stateroom nor food... then you need to have time for it being 3 days and 10 hrs to get there... they even ADD 150 for your pet to be in YOUR car or truck... build the road.. alaskans need cheaper escapes and JOBS

Why does a walk-on passenger take the ferry to Bellingham, especially if one is headed to Seattle? Why spend 3 days, two nights and 9 meals onboard when one can fly - same day - for a cheaper fare? The best use of the AMHS is to connect and supply ALASKA towns, not Bellingham, Washington. If Lynden Transfer and other shippers choose to use Bellingham over Prince Rupert or Skagway, that is a business-bottom line decision. But taking the ferry to Belligham, with 130 miles to go to Seattle, makes little sense for a walk-on passenger.

Yeah, thats all fine and dandy, but not when I needed it.

AMHS ferry "vehicle" miles cost the state of AK approximately 53 times more , per mile , to operate than the state road system.
AMHS only provides about 2.5 million vehicle miles of travel in Lynn Canal which on average costs' the state 11 % more than the rest of AMHS ferry routes. The Lynn Canal Hwy Project will provide over 11 times more capacity at 28.7 million vehicle miles per year, and is estimated to be 53 times lower cost per vehicle mile . This cost ratio should remain the same even with increased fuel prices.

State cost per vehicle mile:
Current Lynn Canal Ferry......$2.08
Lynn Canal Hwy project........$0.039

Yay for Seacc and Chip baby... Let's buy some some more Knowles/Ayers/Doll fast ferries that gobble 800 gals an hour that truly only operate in fair weather!

Our country is going to pot led by Obama, ultra liberal courts, and extremist outside funded Seacc groups. Thank God our pioneers had drive, vision, and common sense; all which is lacking with the future of Alaskas current path of no industry, no jobs, no housing, no hope unless you work for the Government.

Good thing they built the existing roads in Alaska in the 40's and 50's. If they were to try and build them today, they would never get built.

Many years ago I attended a local get together for Fran Ullmer, running (successfully) for her 1st Leg. term. Somebody asked her about the likelihood of a road out.
In those simpler days, Fran was able to be a lot more candid than since, saying essentially "Ain't never gonna happen... The money's got to come from the Feds, passed thru the St. Legislature, and the Railbelt isn't going to allow that..Any funding available, they'll keep for themselves...We oughta just drop the whole thing and move on...Throw in the general statewide antipathy to Juneau anyway...It's a total pipedream."
Well, AK DOT, (road lovers, cause that's all they know), have pushed this pet project ever since, for decades citing bunko figures (clinging to a $250 million price tag, lowball 1980's numbers), 'till only recently when they've finally admitted that yes, there's inflation, and, surprise surprise there might be the odd snow and avalanche shed involved too.
The point I'm making is yes, we "have the technology" to do a fabulously expensive project like this, ala roads in the Alps or Rockies, but it's nuts to spend, realistically, 1/2 to a cool billion bucks to serve a town of 33,000. The market justification doesn't exist, and never will. Nor, any longer, does the money--it's all in the pockets of Bear Stearns and Blackwater execs.
BTW, I'm no road hater - roads that might deliver real bang for the buck in terms of genuine access enhancement, like say from Sitka to Rodman Bay, I could (cautiously) get behind.

Take a trip, if you're able (the Blue Canoes go right by), and really check out the avalanche chutes up Lynn Canal. You'll need binoculars, and maybe some gillnetters to provide a sense of scale.
What looks at a distance like pea gravel are actually rocks the size of houses, rolling down to the saltchuck from thousands of feet up.
Now, imagine trying to clear enough away to even BEGIN building a road, with more coming down the whole time.
Should this project ever get underway, people are going to die. No ifs ands or buts.
Now maybe in the "good old days" that was AOK, 'cause there was a seemingly inexaustible supply of Irish and Chinese...
Seems like the debate is too limited, between expensive "dumb" ferries and really, really expensive, really dumb (my opinion) road lust.

Peace and quiet......I'm guessing you've never seen a causeway or driven through a tunnel. You know the Swiss have road through much longer stretches of avalanche zones than this projected road. Things like avalanche chutes are one of the many reasons why government agencies have or hire people smarter than use to design their roadways.

@akbrdguru: Actually I have traveled all over the length and breadth of Switzerland on their wonderful railroad system.
It's utterly fabulous, awe inspiring; a marvel of engineering and construction.
Two points, however: One, the railroad and bus systems all over Europe are so extensive and efficient that one could well live their whole life and never once have to drive, let alone buy, fuel, insure, maintain, replace an automobile. What a marvelous, true economic freedom! It's a societal decision: mass, rather than individual transportation, that the people of Europe have chosen for themselves. We Americans should learn from their example -- yes, even (dare I say it) France.
The other point is, that there's a market of hundreds of millions of users for these systems. Juneau's a potential market of..what..33,000?
I think of the AK Ferries as busses--horribly mismanaged to be sure, even to the point of patent sabotage by Frank's appointees, but hey--what started this whole thing off was the 9th Circuit's recognition that AKDOT didn't even CONSIDER refurbishment and proper management of the ferries as an option.