Survey says Juneau split on road debate

Juneau residents are divided over whether to build a road to Skagway or improve Lynn Canal ferry service, according to a study released this week by the State Department of Transportation.

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Haines and Skagway overwhelmingly support improved ferry service, according to the poll conducted this summer by the Juneau-based McDowell Group.

Thirty-six percent of Juneau residents prefer building a road up the east side of Lynn Canal to Skagway, while 36 percent support enhanced ferry service, the poll found. Another 16 percent favor building a road up the west side of Lynn Canal to Haines. However, such an option has not been a central part of the ongoing Southeast debate.

Four percent think no improvements are needed and 7 percent were undecided.

The communities of Haines and Skagway supported enhanced ferry service by 53 percent over either of the road options. Thirty-eight percent of the Skagway respondents favor a road to Skagway, and 33 percent of those from Haines supported a road to Haines.

Outgoing Juneau Mayor Sally Smith said she believes the numbers in the report are an accurate representation of the opinions in the three communities.

She said an advisory vote taken in 2000 showed similar results, with less than half the community supporting a road to Skagway and the other half supporting improvements to the ferry system.

Smith said before a decision is made on the preferred alternative for DOT's Juneau Access Project, there needs to be an open discussion about the pros and cons of all the plans.

"I think the discussion has to be open-minded," Smith said. "What do we want to achieve with transportation issues throughout Southeast? I think Lynn Canal is part of a system that needs to be looked at in its entirety."

Mike Story, president-elect for the Juneau Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, had a different take on the poll results.

Story, who has served several years on the Chamber's transportation committee, said the results of the McDowell Group survey show that 52 percent of Juneau residents support building a road, whether it's up the east or west side of Lynn Canal.

"This poll seems to concur that there are a number of people for the road," Story said.

He said he has anecdotal evidence that opinions have changed about the road since the 2000 advisory vote.

Story noted that the events of Sept. 11 and the threat of a capital move have changed many minds on the road debate.

The communities of Haines and Skagway both support ferry service over road construction, according to the study.

Haines Borough Mayor Mike Case said one of the biggest concerns of Haines residents is that their community will be left behind if a road is built connecting Juneau and Skagway.

"Haines would probably get less business than it's had before with an east side road," he said. "But we're not sure of that. We are not totally against the road. We are against being the little community that gets bypassed by the road system."

He said there is concern that freight shipping would stop in Juneau if a road connected the city to the rest of the Alaska Highway.

He said with the election over, the city likely will hold a public hearing on the matter to send its views to DOT planners.

"We certainly would give the road some level of support if we also got a road from Skagway to Haines," Case said. "That's going to happen someday, but who knows when."

Skagway City Manager Bob Ward said he wasn't surprised to hear that the majority of Skagway residents support enhanced ferry service.

"The city council's position has been in support of marine highway access," he said.

Along with the visual environmental concerns that would be created by a road, Case said many who oppose the road argue that it could hurt the city's chances at recovering a year-round economy.

"Any potential we have for recovering a year-round economy will be based on our status as a port," he said, noting that a road could turn Juneau into the primary port community to the Yukon Territory.

He also said many in Skagway have argued that eliminating the ferry system in Lynn Canal would diminish the uniqueness of the region.

• Timothy Inklebarger can be reached at timothyi@juneauempire.com.