Gov. restarts Juneau access study

Gov. Frank Murkowski has told the state Department of Transportation to resume study of the environmental impacts of a road or other improved transportation link out of Juneau.

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What's been called the Juneau Access Project has been on hold for about three years since former Gov. Tony Knowles decided fast ferries were a better way to connect Juneau with the mainland road system.

Murkowski said improving access to the capital city is important for all Alaskans.

"I have asked DOT to review the progress made to date and proceed with the document. This is an open, active project, on which a minimum level of work and assessment has taken place since 1999, when the previous administration decided it was not a priority," Murkowski said in a press release today.

During his campaign for governor, Murkowski repeatedly voiced support for a road out of Juneau.

The most-discussed option has been a 65-mile road from Echo Cove, at the end of Glacier Highway, through the Berners Bay area and up the east side of Lynn Canal to Skagway. A shuttle ferry across Lynn Canal would connect the road to Haines.

Cost estimates have varied, but at the time of Knowles' decision the road was projected to cost about $230 million. DOT staff contacted about earlier work on the access project directed questions to Murkowski's press office, which could not be reached for details by the Empire's midday deadline.

While Murkowski campaigned on his support for the east Lynn Canal road, his statement today specified only that work on the draft environmental impact statement would resume immediately and comply with federal environmental policies.

"As far as we are concerned, all the options and routes will be assessed," Murkowski said.

Juneau Interim City Manager John MacKinnon said the decision is good for Juneau.

"I've expected it to come for quite a while," MacKinnon said. "I think it's good we've taken it out of mothballs."

The Juneau Assembly voted 5-4 in September for a resolution calling for completing the access study and its preferred alternative, the east Lynn Canal road. The vote came during the campaign against a ballot initiative to move the legislative sessions to Anchorage or the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, where access and the lack of a road was an issue.

Assembly member Jim Powell, who said he voted against the resolution because it could have split the community, said he supports completing the study. In an October 2000 ballot, Juneau residents narrowly voted in favor of improved ferry service instead of a road.

"I want to get the EIS done so we can move forward with a road or improved ferry access," Powell said.

Murray Walsh, chairman of the pro-road group Alaskans for Better Access, said he was gratified the governor acted quickly on the issue. Walsh said he'd like to see the city and Assembly take a more active role in supporting a road. He'd also like to see the state take a detailed look at what impact a road might have on other communities.

Plans for a road have been opposed by many in Haines and Skagway.

"The thing I think is important is for the state to reach out to the other communities that are going to be affected by the road and to do more work on what the impact on those communities will be," Walsh said.

Opposition to the road has come from environmental groups and other local residents. Mark Rorick, chairman of the Juneau group of the Sierra Club, said his organization does not oppose completion of the EIS but does oppose building a road.

The Sierra Club will pursue legal action if it is determined that a road is to be built, Rorick said.

He also said completion of the EIS would require a supplemental draft EIS to account for new information that has been discovered since Knowles cut $1.5 million in funding to complete the EIS.

Empire writers Ed Schoenfeld, Joanna Markell and Timothy Inklebarger contributed to this report.