Transportation

After robust public comment, the Haines Borough Assembly voted to reconfirm the preferred design for the rebuild of its freight dock on Tuesday.

Assembly members who voted yes said the measure was necessary to meet grant deadlines and show that Haines was serious about the project.

Both the Planning Commission and the previous assembly voted in support of contractor Turnagain Marine Construction’s plan for the aging Lutak Dock in 2023. But community concerns about cost and environmental impacts, and legal problems with the contractor, have stalled the project.

The dock receives food and fuel for the remote town of Haines. The borough was awarded a $20 million grant in 2021 to update the infrastructure. The grant is overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation – Maritime Administration, or MARAD.

Turnagain, the contractor, purchased approximately $10 million of steel piping for the project, but MARAD deemed those supplies ineligible for grant reimbursement. Turnagain billed the municipality for the steel and Haines declined to pay – then Turnagin sued the borough. The lawsuit triggered mediation between the two parties. They’re still working out who is responsible for the $10 million.

Alekka Fullerton is Haines’ interim borough manager. She says the guaranteed maximum price of $25 million for dock construction is still in place. It’s one of the issues contested by the contractor.

Fullerton told the assembly that the process has been confusing for many.

“I think I heard in a previous assembly meeting that there were questions coming from Southeast Conference, or maybe some other entities in Juneau, really unclear about what the Haines Borough is doing … I have even heard some of those questions from our congressional delegations and some of the people who have, in fact, made sure we have money available for this.”

While the assembly reconfirmed the design with a four to two vote, a majority of the Jan. 14 public comment was against the design.

Haines resident Katie Palmer testified about possible financial ramifications.

“Do not recommit the borough to a project we cannot afford,” she said. “Do not commit the citizens of Haines to pay for a project whose costs will exceed the grant monies. As Assembly member Gabe Thomas stated months ago, a bond is off the table.”

Kimberly Rosado was concerned about the cost of not fixing the dock.

“I want everybody to think what would happen if that dock failed right now, and the prices we would have to pay to ship it around,” she said. “We already pay so much for our groceries. To double or triple that, I don’t know who could afford to live here with that cost. So please get this back on track and fix our dock.”

While some residents testified that they hoped for a smaller design, one dock user said the space is necessary.

Haynes Tormey is a contractor who is intimately familiar with Lutak Dock.

“The existing footprint as it is right now at peak usage is barely enough,” he said. “There’s actually times when I’ve been forced to take freight that I’m not ready for so passing through freight can have a spot on the dock. So essentially, what needs to happen is the temporary guardrails that are in place need to be removed. So that way, the dock’s acreage could be expanded to its original footprint.”

Assembly member Kevin Forster wanted to delay the vote until mediation with Turnagain was complete. He and Assembly member Craig Loomis voted against the resolution.

Assembly member Cheryl Stickler said the borough should move forward with the project.

“We can’t afford the money. We can’t afford the time. And every day that we are stalled on this project, we are one day closer to dock failure,” Stickler said. “I just encourage us all to consider those things and to take steps to open up the conversations with Turnagain. This is our budget. This is our design. What can you do with this design within budget?”

The borough provided its environmental assessment of the dock plan to MARAD at the end of last year. That document is still confidential.

Juneau residents will have a chance to learn more about Huna Totem Corps’ proposal to build a fifth cruise ship dock in downtown Juneau. The corporation and city will hold two joint meetings at City Hall next week where residents can weigh in. 

The growth and management of cruise ship tourism is an increasingly divisive topic in town. Juneau City Manager Katie Koester said public input is crucial as the likely multimillion-dollar project could significantly change downtown and tourism’s impact on residents. 

“It’s a massive economic development initiative in our community,” Koester said. “Having that conversation before any deliberation, I think it’s really going to weigh into both the requirements that the Assembly puts on any type of lease, and their ultimate approval of it.”

Huna Totem Corporation is an Alaska Native village corporation. It proposed the new dock in 2022 after Norwegian Cruise Lines gave it waterfront property near Juneau’s U.S. Coast Guard station. 

The company wants to outfit the dock with a waterfront development called Aak’w Landing, which would include things like underground parking, retail space and a culture and science center. The planning commission approved permits for both the dock and the waterfront development in 2023.

Russell Dick, the president and CEO of Huna Totem, said the project will uplift the Juneau community and Alaska Native people. 

“It provides a ton of benefits to the community of Juneau,” he said. “It takes an old gravel, dirt lot that is not very appealing today and turns it into something that I think everyone who lives here can be proud of.”

The meetings next week come long before the Assembly will vote to decide whether or not to approve leasing out city-owned tidelands to Huna Totem. Those tideland leases will determine if the corporation can build the dock. Without them, the project as it stands can’t move forward. 

Koester said she expects the Assembly to vote on the tideland leases within the year. Before that though, she said the city wants to make sure residents have enough opportunities to get their voices heard on the proposal. 

“This is a really good opportunity for some of that more informal feedback that I think we don’t always have an opportunity to engage with the public in and it’s really important,” she said. “I’d love to see people there.”

Huna Totem’s dock is not the only one proposed in the Juneau area right now. In October, Goldbelt Incorporated and Royal Caribbean Group announced a partnership to develop a new cruise ship port on the backside of Douglas Island. That proposal is still in its design phase and has to go through a permitting process.

The meetings will be held at City Hall in the Assembly chambers on Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Travelers on the Alaska Marine Highway’s ferry Columbia got an unexpected Christmas present on a recent trip from Bellingham to Southeast Alaska: Wi-Fi. The Alaska Department of Transportation announced Thursday that the 418-foot flagship of the state ferry system was the first to launch the new free service.

DOT says more than 450 users connected over the first week it was available. One of those users was independent state Rep. Dan Ortiz, an outgoing lawmaker from Ketchikan who’s been a longtime advocate for the Marine Highway. Ortiz said the purser’s announcement that passengers could log onto onboard Wi-Fi came as a surprise — but he said he was more than happy to spend some of the voyage streaming Suits on Netflix.

“It was amazingly effective. It worked quite well,” he said. “Everything from streaming videos like you can at home, to receiving phone calls, to making phone calls. It was really quite good.”

The connection comes from SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service. State officials say it’s uniquely suited to the Inside Passage: Starlink satellites are in low Earth orbit and pass directly overhead, unlike older systems using geostationary satellites that are frequently blocked by mountains.

Crews installed 37 access points throughout the steel vessel during a recently completed overhaul at the Vigor Alaska shipyard in Ketchikan. State officials say Wi-Fi is available throughout the Columbia, from the solarium to the dining room, staterooms and crew quarters.

The ferry system continues to struggle with short staffing and service cutbacks, and Ortiz said he’s had doubts about the state’s commitment to sustaining the service into the future. But Ortiz said the decision to add Wi-Fi was a good sign.

“It shows me that … management of the Marine Highway System is looking to update and to, you know, make things more accessible to passengers,” he said. “That tells me, then, that they’re committed to the future of the Marine Highway System.”

Alaska got $5 million in federal funding from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to put Wi-Fi on vessels throughout the fleet, and that effort is ongoing. State officials say they plan to expand Wi-Fi to the ferries Aurora and LeConte in the future but did not say when they expect to launch service for passengers.

Millions of people have started traveling for the holiday, braving cold temperatures, snow showers and wet roads as wintry weather snarls traffic across the country.

More than 119 million people are expected to travel for Christmas and Hanukkah, which both fall on the same day this year, through the New Year, a figure that would break a travel record set in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic, according to AAA.

Here is what you need to know about holiday travel.

Rain and snow is making travel messy for some

Rain and snow showers have impacted the Pacific Northwest since Saturday, while in the Northeast and areas around the Great Lakes, cold air from the Arctic has sent temperatures plunging, according to the National Weather Service.

Travelers at several airports have already been experiencing delays heading into the holidays. On Friday, heavy fog caused hundreds of delays at San Diego International Airport, according to KPBS. Those flying in and out of Boston Logan International Airport have also seen delays because of ice and snow.

On Sunday, heavy snow is expected across the northern Cascades in the Pacific Northwest and the Rockies, while flooding could take place along coastal parts of northern California.

Rain will continue across the Pacific Northwest on Monday, the NWS says. Western parts of the Great Lakes could also see more snow.

On Christmas Eve, travel will be messy in many parts of the country as thunderstorms are forecast in the southern Plains. Rain is expected to slow travel on the West Coast and in the Ohio Valley as well. There is also likely to be snow in the Northeast, where some places could see 1 to 3 inches of snow, potentially waking up to a white Christmas.

Parts of the West Coast — including Washington, Oregon and northern California — the Midwest, areas around the Great Lakes and northern New England could also wake up to a white Christmas, according to the NWS.

Be prepared for delays

If traveling for the holiday, be prepared for long lines at airports and long drive times.

Arrive at airports early and allow for extra time to check luggage as well as go through airport security, said David Pekoske, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration.

“We’ve recently added over 600 new officers to support the surge, but it’s still going to take time to make your way through the airport,” Pekoske wrote in a social media post on Friday.

More than 43,000 flights are expected to take off Sunday and around 43,500 are expected to fly on Monday as well, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. At least 10,000 flights in and out of the U.S. were delayed Friday and over 9,500 were delayed on Saturday, according to FlightAware. Around 3,500 flights in and out of the U.S. have been delayed as of Sunday afternoon.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are expected to have the least amount of travelers by air, with a little over 30,000 flights taking off each day, the FAA says. And if traveling by car, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day may be better days because of minimal traffic impacts, according to AAA.

If you’re riding the rails, Amtrak is warning travelers of “lengthy delays” in the Northeast because of single tracking and overhead wiring, which has led to cancellations at some stations.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday in a public service campaign also urged travelers to prepare by creating alerts in the FEMA app and following TSA for updates. It also cautioned drivers to make sure they have an emergency car kit.

Alaska Airlines plans to suspend its early morning 5 a.m. daily flight between Juneau and Seattle beginning next month. The final flight will be on Jan. 5.

The early bird option is a staple for Juneau travelers, especially those who head to Seattle for work or to catch a connecting flight. Without any delays, passengers land before the workday starts. 

“There’s been a lot of chatter among Juneau travelers about the suspension of the flight. But Alaska is aware of the unpopularity of their decision, trust me,” said Scott McMurren, a travel analyst based in Anchorage. 

In an email, a spokesperson for the airline said it’s only temporary. They cited low demand for the flight during the winter months as the reason for the suspension. Alaska Airlines will resume the 5 a.m. flight for the busy summertime season starting in mid-June. 

McMurren said seasonal scheduling like that is not unusual. 

“We have seasonal flights to Europe. We have seasonal flights to Hawaii. We have seasonal flights to a lot of Alaska’s nonstop destinations,” he said. 

Patty Wahto is Juneau International Airport’s manager. She said the busyness of the airport ebbs and flows depending on the time of year.

“Definitely, our peak seasons are the summer for travel. You see a lot more flights added on. You see a lot more tourism,” she said. “The bulk of our traffic is in the summer months.”

The Alaska Airlines spokesperson said Juneau won’t lose capacity despite the flight’s suspension. The airline will still offer three other flights from Juneau to Seattle. The earliest leaves around 8 a.m.

Right now, the airline has a near-monopoly in Juneau. Its biggest competitor, Delta, doesn’t plan to offer any flights between Juneau and Seattle until mid-next year. 

In an email, a Delta spokesperson said it operates the Juneau-Seattle flight seasonally. This year it ran from June through early November. Delta won’t resume the flights until next June. 

McMurren said that could affect the cost of flying during the winter months. 

“During the months that Delta does not operate, Alaska enjoys a monopoly, and so they price their flights accordingly,” he said. “Typically they’re a little more expensive, then when Delta comes back into the market they typically drop. In the summertime, fares are lower because there’s competition.”

McMurren said schedules could be subject to change if there’s enough demand. But for now, he suggests preparing in advance for the later flight times.

Juneau continues to see heavy rains this week, after getting nearly a foot and a half of snow last week. That’s left road travel slippery and treacherous across town.

Greg Spann is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Juneau.

“Juneau got about 17 inches of new snow out of that system, which is a lot of snow,” he said.

And since Sunday, it’s been raining heavily in Juneau. So, that means on top of all that snow — which is blocking drains — rainwater is pooling on the roads. He said even more rain is coming.

“Now we do have a lot of rain on the way,” Spann said. “Make no mistake here, we’re not out of the woods just yet, as far as rain.”

Another storm system is on the way later this week. But, Spann said it is not likely to get below freezing. Still, he recommends people drive very carefully, especially when approaching intersections. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch in Juneau, Gustavus, Petersburg, Wrangell and Kake until later tonight. Another one to two inches are expected in Juneau today.

Scott Gray, superintendent of the city’s Streets and Fleet Maintenance, said wet and heavy snow like this is especially hard to plow off the roads.

“It’s not an easy task once you get the rain on top of the snow that gets packed, and then you have packed ice on the roadway that is pretty much adhered to the asphalt,” he said. “And now it’s scraping trying to get that ice off the asphalt is just — it’s painstaking sometimes.”

Gray said it could be several more days before the roads are back in safer conditions.

“With the weather that we’re getting, we could be a week out before the roads are back up to where everybody likes them to be,” he said.

The City and Borough of Juneau maintains and clears residential streets, while the Alaska Department of Transportation plows highways like Egan Drive and Glacier Highway. Each prioritizes main arteries and routes for emergency services.

The Juneau School District had a remote learning day on Monday, and is back to in-person classes today with school buses on snow routes through Wednesday. Capital Transit will continue winter route changes to the bus service until tonight.