The public comment period regarding Phase 1 of the Cascade Point Ferry Terminal project closed last month and left many Southeast Alaskans frustrated.
The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) says that the Cascade Point project is going to support an Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) that is more reliable, efficient, connected, and sustainable. However, many of the residents that would be directly impacted by this change to the Juneau-Haines-Skagway connection points are voicing strong opinions of dissent. In fact, both municipalities of Skagway and Haines have formally released statements critical of the project. While the city of Juneau hasn’t released an official statement, many residents are voicing their concerns.
“I served on the Alaska Marine Highway’s board and I always brought it up,” said Juneau resident and retired Coast Guard Captain Edward Page. “I don’t see the logic, it really inconveniences the people, the passengers who [the AMHS is] supposed to be focused on.”
According to DOT&PT Southcoast region director Chirstopher Goins, a ferry terminal 30 miles up the road will save three hours of vessel run-time daily by cutting 24 nautical miles from the route. According to the DOT website, this will decrease operating costs by $590,000 annually and reduce CO2 emissions by 1,190 tons per year. For miners working at Kensington mine, Cascade Point offers a much safer and more efficient way of getting back and forth during extreme weather conditions in the Lynn Canal when seas can reach 15 to 20 feet.
The benefits of this project, however, don’t seem to outweigh the consequences for many residents.
“I’m a little irritated that most of the articles I’ve read say, ‘Oh, it’s another 30 miles beyond the current ferry terminal,’ but they don’t point out that [if] you’re taking a friend or loved one to the ferry terminal you’re going to have to drive a minimum of 60 miles,” said Skip Gray, a Juneau resident and long-time advocate for the protection of Echo Cove. “If you’re coming from the end of North Douglas road, you’re talking over a 100-mile round trip.”
Juneau’s record-breaking December snowfall also brings into the conversation legitimate concerns regarding the winter road conditions in that part of town. With early morning and late night ferry departures and arrivals come increased risk for drivers coming to and from a stretch of road that isn’t always the highest priority for road maintenance operations. On the flip side, plans for increased road maintenance down that stretch seem to some like a covert way of taking a step towards a road fully out of Juneau.
MJ Cadle, a current Ketchikan resident, voiced concerns about the challenges that small communities in Southeast Alaska face and the ways in which this new ferry terminal will make things more difficult. Her concern is that these decisions are being made by politicians in Anchorage who don’t understand the ways in which Southeast Alaskan residents depend on the AMHS for day-to-day life.
“If you come in from Skagway and you want medical [in Juneau], you can’t easily take a cab to the hospital anymore if you’re out at Cascade point,” Cadle said.
Cadle is frustrated that riders that are used to being able to hop off the ferry to run to a store or restaurant in Auke Bay or the Valley will no longer have those opportunities, a concern echoed in the logistics for ferry workers as well.
“Everyone will be inconvenienced by having to go next to 30 miles [more compared to what they’re doing right now]: the crews, the line handlers, the facility managers, all the other people have to do work on [the ferry],” said Page. “They don’t have to work all day, they have to be there for a period of time.”
The inconvenience of not having any facilities out there has led some to speculate about the long term plans for the area. In fact, a Goldbelt development plan for the Echo Cove area published in The Juneau Empire in 1997 includes plans for a gas station, a lodge with a restaurant, and a convenience store with possibilities left open for an eventual elementary school, health clinic, 40 units of housing, and a 20-vehicle motor home park, among other things.
“They could very easily have much more in mind for that area, and even if they don’t, it’s foreseeable that a road to someplace will lead to more development, and it could even lead to a road further out into Berner’s Bay,” said Gray. “Goldbelt owns property well out beyond Cascade Point, and I can foresee [how] improving the road to Cascade Point could encourage more road building beyond that in the future.”
Add to that business relationships with the mining companies out there and economic leakage comes into the conversation, leading some like Cadle to question whether this change is meant to benefit the riders the AMHS is built to serve or certain special interest groups. A recent report from the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development came out showing that 44.2% of miners were non-Alaskan residents, making many question whether this is a sound investment for our state.
“A very limited group of people is going to benefit from the Cascade Point ferry terminal,” said Cadle, “and that is Goldbelt, their shareholders, and the people that work for them.”
Gray and Page both echoed that sentiment, suggesting that it seems like the mining companies, especially the Vancouver-based Grand Portage Resources responsible for the gold mine out by Herbert Glacier, stand to gain the most from increased facilities, road maintenance, and a dock in this area.
More than 1,000 public comments were received on Phase 1 of this project, many voicing concerns about the use of tax payer money to fund private interest projects. The strong sentiment was clear that using ferry funding to bankroll what is obviously a benefit for a small few is a misappropriation of funds. Others felt this project was a ploy to get the ball rolling on the highly disputed road connecting Juneau to Skagway.
One public commenter is quoted, saying: “It is apparent that the current administration is more interested in developing the port for the proposed foreign owned Canadian mine than it is in improving transportation for Alaskans. If the land owner and the mine developer want a port, they can well build it themselves.”
Goins recognizes that Cascade Point raises some concerns, saying “Right now, the State is carefully reviewing all public comments received and working through them in detail, including preparing individual responses. This feedback is an important part of understanding community concerns and identifying where refinements or additional analysis may be needed as the evaluation continues.”
Rachel Levy is a Juneau-based photojournalist whose work culminates at the intersections of environmental justice, arts and culture, and sustainable tourism. A 2022 graduate of Harvard University's Environmental Policy program, she is also the director of the award-winning documentary "Hidden in Plain Sight" that exposes the labor exploitation and colonial framework burdening Tanzania's safari industry.
