A second Juneau-Douglas crossing emerged as the second-ranked project on a legislative priority list reviewed by the Juneau Planning Commission on Tuesday night, reflecting the “new normal” of local leaders who are generally putting protection from Suicide Basin flooding at the top of such lists.
Addressing Juneau’s housing shortage — an ongoing top-priority concern — was the primary focus of planning commission members evaluating a list that also included projects such as proposed developments at Pederson Hill and Telephone Hill. An informal 6-1 preference by commission members to rank the crossing second was largely based on its larger long-range potential — and the need for state support — compared to the Pederson Hill project already in the design phase with municipal and Tlingit Haida Regional Housing Authority support.
“The city has within its capacity real ability to move on that we choose, whereas the bridge, I think, needs legislative advocacy in order to happen,” said Mandy Cole, the commission chair, as it was nearing the end of its assessment.
The dissenting member was Nina Keller, who said that with the announced homeporting of a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker in Juneau within a few years a priority should be placed on short-term housing development.
“If you’re building a bridge in five to 10 years, then you still have to put utilities onto the backside of Douglas,” she said. “I understand it’s a big-picture, long-term decision to move ahead with that, but we already made a decision to work with the Coast Guard. To get those additional families, that was a big number to Juneau and that will have a big impact on this community.”
A one-year list for projects that may take many years
The 19-project list in a draft report published by city leaders, now being reviewed by various committees and groups before it is officially ranked by the Juneau Assembly, is an annual effort that at a surface level prioritizes funding requests from the Alaska State Legislature during the coming session that starts in January.
However, many of the projects — including flood protection and the second crossing — are multiyear undertakings whose dominant funding may come from other sources such as the federal government and/or in different years.
Anywhere between $3 million and $100 million is being sought from the Legislature for flood mitigation and preparedness, for instance, with a total project cost listed simply as “TBD” (to be determined), according to the draft report by the City and Borough of Juneau. The Assembly has already approved $3.4 million in municipal funds toward such efforts and is seeking a considerable amount of federal funding through various channels for a permanent solution the report says could take a decade to complete.
Furthermore, the specifics of many projects — including a long-term flooding solution and where a second Juneau-Douglas crossing will be built — are yet to be determined and may be years away from a definitive answer.
A flood plan whose short-term provisions include obtaining up to 60,000 sandbags for residents to protect their homes and building a four-mile semi-permanent levee using Hesco barriers along the Mendenhall River has been approved by the Juneau Assembly. A so-called permanent fix could include something like drilling a drainage tunnel for Suicide Basin through a mountain, which poses regulatory as well as financial challenges since the basin is on U.S. Forest Service land.
Second-guessing a Juneau-Douglas crossing
A second Juneau-Douglas crossing poses an entirely different set of challenges, although complex federal land and regulatory issues are among them.
The crossing has been debated for more than four decades, but has received enough federal design funding during the past couple of years that approval within the next few years to build the bridge is a plausible reality — albeit at a far higher cost than projected as recently as 2020. A CBJ study that year estimated the cost at $90 million, while the legislative priority list evaluated by the commission Tuesday puts the cost between $300 million and $550 million depending on the route chosen.
However, the draft legislative request list seeks only $3 million at present for planning and permitting work since the project is still in the evaluation stage.
The project is currently undergoing a Planning & Environmental Linkages (PEL) study by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities in collaboration with the Juneau engineering company DOWL. Six alternatives are being considered, with a DOWL presentation in May stating a bridge near the southeast end of the runway at Juneau International Airport was the highest-scoring so far — although DOT and CBJ officials have emphasized recently no alternatives have yet been eliminated from consideration.
DOWL’s findings are being challenged by the Mendenhall Wetlands Study Group — comprised of scientists, conservationists and others. The group claims the assessments by DOWL and DOT contain major factual flaws in assessing damage to the refuge, and that the only viable option is a crossing at Salmon Creek since it’s the only one that doesn’t intrude on the refuge.
However, the Salmon Creek alternative faces serious structural concerns about the 110-year-old Salmon Creek hydroelectric dam, CBJ Public Works Director Denise Koch told the planning commission on Tuesday.
“There’s some concern if there was ever a dam failure that the modeling shows that the speed and the height of the water that would come down in the valley would take out the approaches to the bridge,” she said.
CBJ and other officials are currently seeking information about the dam from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, although that is a complex process since post-9/11 security concerns means requests for such information are vetted and information released must be kept secure, Koch said.
The PEL study is expected to be completed by the end of the year, with a preferred alternative likely declared. A National Environmental Policy Act review to evaluate and get public input of that is alternative is expected to take about two years and design of an alternative an additional two years.
In response to questions from commission members about the timing and scope of future housing with a second crossing, Koch noted the bridge also would fulfill safety and redundancy purposes in case the current Douglas Bridge is inaccessible. But she said its long-term potential is bigger than other projects such as Pederson Hill that can be done in a shorter period of time.
“If you could potentially open up a lot of land in West Douglas and North Douglas that is currently undeveloped that would probably be more attractive to development,” she said.
A sweetener for Lemon Creek, voters remove need for one item, and other projects on the list
Many of the items in the legislative list have been included in past years, and are seeking either additional or first-time funding during the coming session. Among those singled out for discussion during Tuesday’s meeting is “a multimodal path in Lemon Creek that connects residents to schools, shopping, jobs and services.”
The Assembly has approved $1.15 million so far for design work and seeking $9 million for a project with a total cost of $12 million that would be completed within two years of funds being received, according to the list presented to the commission. Commission member Travis Arndt noted the project has been on the priority list for years, yet remains unfunded.
“It’s always been a priority since I’ve been on and it was because Lemon Creek doesn’t have a fire station, Lemon Creek doesn’t have a big park, the list goes on,” he said. “So this was…an equity thing to try to bring them something that was part of their plan, that was important to them and that’s why it’s been there.”
However, “with the flooding this year and last it’s really hard to justify it,” Arndt said.
One item also on the list for many years that can now be removed is $13 million for replacing the emergency radio system used by police and firefighters, since unofficial results show voters approving a $12.7 million bond to fund the upgrade, Koch said.
Among the other items on the draft legislative priority list are:
• $2 million for preparatory work on redevelopment of Telephone Hill, which has a total $10 million estimated cost.
• $38 million for Aak’w Village District parking to supplement existing parking for state and other employees.
• $20 million for final design and construction of shore power at a downtown cruise ship dock
• $12 million for Eaglecrest and tourism workforce housing.
• $7 million for improvements to Jackie Renninger Park and its Pipeline Skate Park.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
