Transportation

Update 11:30 a.m. Saturday:

Police say an investigation revealed a 64-year-old man driving a 1994 Subaru made a left turn toward Fred Meyer at approximately 4:54 p.m. Friday. His car was struck by 2002 Volkswagen traveling outbound. The drivers of a 2014 Subaru and a 1989 Honda were unable to avoid the crash and collided with the other vehicles.

Both Subarus and the Volkswagen were totaled and towed from the scene. The Honda sustained minor damage and was driven away.

The drivers of the ’94 Subaru and the Volkswagen were taken to Bartlett Regional Hospital for treatment on non-life threatening injuries. None of the motorists were identified in a JPD news release.

The outbound lanes of Egan Drive were closed for about 40 minutes during the investigation.

The accident is still under investigation and citations are pending.

(Heather Bryant, Jeremy Hsieh and Casey Kelly contributed to this report)

Original Post:

Two people were transported to Bartlett Regional Hospital for injuries after a three-vehicle accident on Egan Drive this evening.

The identities and status of the people involved were not immediately available.

Juneau Police Department dispatcher Joey Fox reports the initial call came in at about 4:50 p.m. The accident shut down outbound traffic on Egan Drive near Fred Meyer for almost an hour.

JPD says roads are slick and drivers need to use caution.

This is an ongoing story. Check back here for updates.

Only three people showed up for the first meeting on Sunday of a community task force looking at Juneau middle school travel policies.

Jon Kurland created the task force after the Juneau School Board in September adopted a ban of all out-of-town middle school athletic travel. The ban takes effect next school year.

He said he’s just getting the word out and will be reaching out to the Floyd Dryden and Dzantik’i Heeni middle school communities.

He’s calling the open-to-all body the Stakeholder Committee on Middle School Sports Travel.

Unlike picketers and other community opponents of the school board’s ban, Kurland said this is not a de facto repeal effort.

“I’m not trying to hide the fact that I’m hoping we’re gonna get to a place where the board can say ‘yes’ to middle school travel, I think that’s very much the goal,” Kurland said. “But I don’t think it’s going to be as simple just having the board reverse its September decision. I think we’re probably going to have to come up with a new framework that has different conditions attached to it so the board can feel comfortable that that’s an option that they can get behind.”

Kurland had lobbied the Juneau School Board for official participation in the committee. The board didn’t assign any staff or board members to it, but said it’s “acknowledging” the committee’s creation, and will hear the task force’s recommendations in the spring. The committee aims to have final recommendations ready by the end of February.

Kurland is a parent, though he doesn’t have a personal stake in the travel ban. His youngest child will be in high school when it takes effect.

“I recognize the educational and social value of teen travel opportunities and I think we owe it to these kids to take a harder look at this problem and try to explore solutions to create those opportunities,” Kurland said.

The committee’s next meeting has not been set, but people interested in participating can find updates on the Facebook group Save Our Middle School Sports – Juneau, Alaska or by emailing Kurland directly at JonKurland1@gmail.com.

The capital city’s bus system wants to hear from you – whether you ride the bus every day, or have never been aboard.

Over the last few months, CBJ-operated Capital Transit has been updating its five-year Transit Development Plan.

So far, the study shows the current system has high ridership, general passenger satisfaction as well as a number of challenges.  Some of those include crowded buses, too much service to areas with low demand, and not enough to parts of the borough where demand is higher.

Transportation planning company Nelson Nygaard is working on the transit plan. Consultant Paul Lutey says an evaluation of Capital Transit and public comments indicate several issues to be addressed.

“Those are largely related to operational issues. Making sure that the buses are running on schedule, and a few other little tweaks like getting the express route to the downtown transit center and a little bit further into downtown, but also to serve some new areas that we heard some demand for, like Riverside Drive, like Costco and Home Depot,” Lutey says.

Lutey and others working on the study will explain several scenarios for service and have maps of the proposals at meetings Tuesday and Wednesday.

Geoff Slater is also with Nelson Nygaard.  He says the next phase of the plan is to develop alternatives for the future.

“This is a combination of us determining what would work well for the system, but it also has to do with local priorities.  So what we want to do is match up what really will work best for the system and what’s most important for people. That’s really the point of the meetings.  We do have different options on ways to do things and we want to do the one that works the best and would be the best received,” Slater says.

Tuesday’s meeting is from 4:30 to 6:30 at the Mendenhall Valley Library in Mendenhall Mall.  There’s another meeting on Wednesday at the downtown library, also from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

A business partnership involving Alaska and Delta airlines is fraying around the edges.  The two companies have turned into what some would call “frenemies.”

Alaska Air Group and Delta Air Lines signed a long term partnership in 2008.  Both sides agree it’s been a profitable alliance.  The carriers feed connecting traffic to each other, coordinate some schedules and offer reciprocal frequent flier benefits.  But Delta clearly ruffled some feathers at Alaska Airlines this fall.  Delta added new flights from the Pacific Northwest to Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco.  Alaska Air Group CEO Brad Tilden says his company will aggressively defend what it considers core markets.

Brad Tilden: “Alliances can be complicated. It’s likely that in the future there will be markets where it is in our interest to work together with Delta and there will be markets where we will compete because it is in the best interest of Alaska Air Group to do so.”

During a regular conference call to discuss earnings, Tilden said his airline is on track to book a record profit in 2013.