The Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study for the Juneau Douglas North Crossing is in its final stages, and the community is getting one last chance to weigh in.
At a public open house on Thursday, people filled out comment cards based on the six alternatives: Salmon Creek, Twin Lakes, Vanderbilt, Sunny Point East, Sunny Point West and a no-build. About 150 people attended.
The City and Borough of Juneau and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) partnered to study connecting Juneau with the north end of Douglas Island in 2022. The first public open house was held on May 11, 2022. A connection has been studied since the 1980s, but has not progressed.
The six alternatives have been recommended for the next project phase, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. This is estimated to take two years or more. However, the findings from the PEL study can be incorporated into NEPA, which may speed up the process.
“The PEL was really good about just getting everybody’s comments out there,” Greg Lockwood, DOT&PF project manager, said. “They’ll give us a real jump start on that NEPA process. Normally, when we start a project in NEPA, we don’t know all this, but we know so much about how everybody’s feeling, it’ll be that much quicker.”
The purpose of the Planning and Environmental Linkages study is to compare different crossing options and narrow down the options for the National Environmental Policy Act. Scores on the various options are ranked based on cost, environmental impact, and meeting transportation needs. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
All but the Salmon Creek option would cross through the Mendenhall State Game Refuge — Salmon Creek is just on the boundary’s edge.
“The thing that we realized in the PEL is that we need a whole lot more studies because everybody’s concerned about the resources within the wetlands and what our impacts are going to be,” Lockwood said. “We ruled out some alternatives, but we’ve heard so many comments about people worried about different things that we need to get more data. That’s what the NEPA process will do.”
The Salmon Creek option, while outside the refuge, would be located in the failure zone of the Salmon Creek dam, according to Alaska Electric Light and Power. Lockwood said a Freedom of Information Act request was made in August 2024 seeking the most recent evaluation of the dam to assess the risk of a dam breach event. This information has not been provided yet and will be reviewed in the NEPA analysis.
After NEPA is completed, the project will still need to find federal funding, with a state or local match. No construction funds have been identified yet, and depending on which alternative is chosen, the project is estimated to cost more than $300 million. A benefit-cost analysis shows a range from $340 to $490 million.
“In five years, we could be doing construction, if we can find some money,” Lockwood said.
Denise Koch, CBJ director of engineering and public works, said Juneau could benefit from a north crossing due to congestion during peak periods on the Douglas Bridge. The alternatives moving forward to NEPA are estimated to save 10-13 minutes of travel time.
Koch said there are also concerns about emergency response in the event of a bridge closure, but the most important reason the city advocates bringing money to the project is the potential for housing development on west Douglas.
“The discussion ties into Juneau prioritizing housing,” Koch said.
Public comments can be submitted to JDNorthCrossing@dowl.com until June 9. The PEL study and other information from Thursday’s open house are also available online at www.JDNorthCrossing.com.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356.
The Salmon Creek Alternative is on the edge of the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
