Fallen trees line the beginning of the West Douglas Pioneer Road in late April. On Monday evening the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly voted to reject a proposal for the second time from a local company that sought to gain access to provide electric-assisted bicycle tours on the city-owned gravel road. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire FIle)

Fallen trees line the beginning of the West Douglas Pioneer Road in late April. On Monday evening the City and Borough of Juneau Assembly voted to reject a proposal for the second time from a local company that sought to gain access to provide electric-assisted bicycle tours on the city-owned gravel road. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire FIle)

Assembly votes down proposed Pioneer Road e-bike tours — again

The proposal was orginally rejected in late April.

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly once again voted to reject a local business’s proposal to bring electric-assisted bicycle tours to West Douglas’ Pioneer Road after it was initially rejected by members in late April.

[Assembly votes down proposed Pioneer Road e-bike tours]

The proposal by iRide Alaska was up for a “rare” reconsideration at the Monday night Assembly meeting after a notice of reconsideration was called for by Assembly member Wade Bryson after it originally failed in a 5-4 vote at the previous Assembly meeting.

According to iRide Alaska’s business permit request for the tours, originally sent to the city in November, the company sought to offer hour-long tours on pedal-assist e-bikes three times a day, six days a week barring Sunday, for groups ranging from four to 10 people along with two guides beginning this summer, running from May through October.

In the second round vote, Assembly members Christine Woll, Greg Smith, Alicia Hughes-Skandijs, Maria Gladziszewski and Mayor Beth Weldon opposed the reconsideration, while Assembly members Wade Bryson, ‘Wáahlaal Gíídaak Barbara Blake and Michelle Bonnet Hale voted in favor. Assembly member Carole Triem was absent.

During the meeting, Woll said she chose to oppose the reconsideration, arguing that the “rare” move can be a useful tool when new information becomes available or there was confusion on the issue that was originally voted on. She said she didn’t think that logic applied in this case.

After the vote, iRide Alaska co-owner Reuben Willis told the Empire that he purposefully didn’t get his hopes up about it passing after being shot down the first time, so he said he wasn’t surprised to see that it didn’t.

Juneau resident Linda Kruger, who was among the members of the public who attended the meeting in-person, told the Empire that she thinks the Assembly made the right decision the first time around.

“Last meeting they made a really good decision — they analyzed it, they thought about it and they made their decision — so there was no reason as to why they would change their vote,” she said. “I don’t think the reconsideration was warranted at all.”

Kruger said she personally opposed the proposal, arguing she did not think the road is compatible to service both tours and residential users.

“It would be just too much,” she said.

• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast for the week of March 25

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

The aging Tustumena ferry, long designated for replacement, arrives in Homer after spending the day in Seldovia in this 2010 photo. (Homer News file photo)
Feds OK most of state’s revised transportation plan, but ferry and other projects again rejected

Governor’s use of ferry revenue instead of state funds to match federal grants a sticking point.

The Shopper’s Lot is among two of downtown Juneau’s three per-hour parking lots where the cash payments boxes are missing due to vandalism this winter. But as of Wednesday people can use the free ParkSmarter app to make payments by phone. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Pay-by-phone parking for downtown Juneau debuts with few reported complaints

App for hourly lots part of series of technology upgrades coming to city’s parking facilities.

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

Annauk Olin, holding her daugher Tulġuna T’aas Olin, and Rochelle Adams pose on March 20, 2024, after giving a presentation on language at the Alaska Just Transition Summit in Juneau. The two, who work together at the Alaska Public Interest Research Group’s Language Access program, hope to compile an Indigenous environmental glossary. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Project seeks to gather Alaska environmental knowledge embedded in Indigenous languages

In the language of the Gwich’in people of northeastern Alaska, the word… Continue reading

The room where the House Community and Regional Affairs Committee holds its meeting sits empty on Tuesday. A presentation about an increase in the number of inmate deaths in state custody was abruptly canceled here. (Claire Stremple/Alaska Beacon)
Republican lawmakers shut down legislative hearing about deaths in Alaska prisons

Former commissioner: “All this will do, is it will continue to inflame passions of advocacy groups.”

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Monday, March 25, 2024

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Employees at the Kensington Mine removing tailings from Johnson Creek on Feb. 17 following a Jan. 31 spill of about 105,000 gallons of slurry from the mine, although a report by the mine’s owners states about half slurry reached the creek 430 meters away. (Photo from report by Coeur Alaska)
Emergency fisheries assessments sought after 105,000-gallon tailings spill at Kensington Mine

Company says Jan. 31 spill poses no risk to Berners Bay habitat, but NOAA seeks federal evaluation.

Dozens of people throw colors in the air and at each other during a Holi festival gathering Monday night outside Spice Juneau Indian Cuisine. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Holi festival in Juneau revives colorful childhood memories for some, creates them for others

Dozens toss caution and colored cornstarch to the wind in traditional Hindu celebration of spring

Most Read