A year-round Berners Bay Ferry Terminal is needed to allow cost-effective Alaska Class Ferry service by the Tazlina and Hubbard in the Lynn Canal. The ACFs cannot operate cost effectively from Auke Bay and provide a round trip connecting Juneau, Haines and Skagway. within a 12-hour crew day mandated by the U.S. Coast Guard. However, each ferry can provide a round trip between the three communities within 11 hours from a ferry terminal located in or off Berners Bay. The following three sites should be evaluated based on ability to support frequent reliable year-round scheduled service, construction and operations cost, and user cost:
— Westside of Echo Cove, requires dredging sandbar at entrance (Gold Belt property)
— Cascade Point, (Gold Belt property)
— Sawmill Cove, (federal land)
Construction of an end-loading berth at Berners Bay would shorten the length of the Lynn Canal Route to provide a perfect fit for the ACF. A Berners Bay terminal would shorten the overall ferry route to under 11 hours providing the ACFs with the best service and cost-effective fit for their speed and size. It doubles the ACF fleet dayboat capacity to serve Lynn Canal communities and provides the capacity to add evening round-trips, if supported by traffic demand. It would eliminate the need to operate the mainline ferries north of Juneau, enabling mainliners to stop at Sitka in both directions most of the time. Construction of a single end loading vehicle transfer berth with a security/ticket verification booth at the entrance gate to a secure staging area and a small building to provide restrooms, store supplies, house on-site security personal, and house maintenance equipment should suffice for a Berners Bay Ferry Terminal.
Ferry service from Berners Bay should be supported by transit service between the Lynn Canal communities as an integral part of service provided to passengers unaccompanied by private vehicles. Transit service should be provided by either AMHS or contracted to a commercial operator for transport of all foot passengers from three points in Juneau to the Berners Bay Ferry Terminal. Foot passengers and luggage would remain on the bus and the bus and driver would board the ferry first on and first off. The bus contractor would collect fares for both transit and ferry passage. Consider certifying drivers to meet vessel Safety of Life at Sea requirements to satisfy part of passenger SOLAS requirements. Consider a three-year trial period extending transit service in the summer all the way to Whitehorse. Providing thru transit service eliminates need for a large passenger terminal building and ticketing on site. It provides a comfortable high level of service and would address requirements of Americans with Disabilities Act 1990. Requiring all passengers to board the ferry by vehicle also expedites loading and eliminates need for customer parking at site. It reduces costly port time in loading and disembarkation.
A Berners Bay Terminal would enable the two ACF’s ferries to provide daily service over the entire route — one ACF departing from Juneau and the second ACF departing from Haines or Skagway during peak summer period. This would allow regular scheduled departures in the morning and afternoon in both directions during peak summer traffic demand. Alternatively, if additional capacity is needed an ACF could make an evening round trip. Crews would be based in Juneau and Haines or Skagway and would return home each day. Outside of the peak period a single ACF based in Berners Bay should provide enough capacity to serve Lynn Canal traffic most of the year.
Compared to Auke Bay, a Berners Bay Terminal enables the ACF fleet to double Lynn Canal corridor daytime service capacity and frequency of service. It provides the ability to quadrupled service levels if evening runs are warranted. The economic value of a Berners Bay ferry terminal in terms of the capital value of supporting additional corridor capacity is considerable. A Berners Bay Terminal eliminates costly ferry operations paralleling an existing roadway.
• Andy Hughes is a retired chief of planning for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities’ Southcoast Region. He has been a Juneau resident since 1973.Columns, My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire. Have something to say? Here’s how to submit a My Turn or letter.
