Cascade Point ferry terminal cost soars, second Juneau-Douglas crossing omitted in new STIP

Comments on draft Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan for 2027-30 accepted until Oct. 29

A conceptual design for a new ferry terminal at Cascade Point north of Juneau. (Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

This story has been corrected to remove a reference to an open house about the STIP in Juneau on Wednesday. The event is about the proposed update of the Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan.

The proposed Cascade Point Ferry Terminal is projected to cost about $120 million in a draft Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) for 2027-30, up from an estimate of $77 million in the previous plan.

A second Juneau-Douglas crossing, which also has seen its projected cost soar, has been removed from the updated draft pending "better understanding of the project's scope and estimated construction costs," according to a state transportation spokesperson.

Comments on the draft STIP, which was released Monday, are being accepted by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities until Oct. 29.

The plan has several Juneau projects, including improvements at the Fred Meyer intersection, replacing the Montana Creek Bridge, and rehabilitation work on Franklin Street and Thane Road. The two biggest projects — the second crossing and Cascade Point terminal — have seen significant changes since the state adopted its 2024-27 plan.

The projected cost of the Cascade Point terminal, about 30 miles north of the existing Auke Bay terminal, has grown from about $36 million in 2022 to $77 million in the previous STIP to between $90 million and $100 million in presentations during the past year. The new draft STIP projects a stage one cost of the terminal of about $35 million, after the state last year signed a $28.5 million contract for that phase. An additional $85 million in costs to complete the terminal are projected by 2030. Most of the cost will be covered by federal funds.

Construction of the terminal, which is opposed by many regional residents and officials who question its purpose, is on hold until at least next year due to permitting issues raised earlier this year by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Sonny Mauricio, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, stated in an email to the Juneau Independent on Wednesday that "the estimate in the Draft STIP reflects our current understanding of the project and its anticipated costs."

"As engineering progresses, we refine the project's cost estimate to reflect additional geotechnical information, wave conditions and associated design requirements, and vessel requirements," he wrote. "We also account for increases in infrastructure construction costs."

The terminal is the latest of several major projects in the Juneau area to see major increases in their projected cost during the past year.

A second crossing between Juneau and Douglas, discussed for decades, saw the completion of a Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study last year evaluating five proposed locations and recommending the project advance to the next step of an in-depth review of their environmental impacts. But while the crossing was in the 2024-27 STIP, it is not in the new draft.

Mauricio said funding available during the past fiscal year is being spent to "support the environmental review and preliminary design process, along with development of a project financing plan." While further funding for the project is not included in the new draft, the plans are subject to amendments during their lifespan.

"Once we have a better understanding of the project's scope and estimated construction costs, we will include additional funding in the STIP," Mauricio wrote.

The projected cost of a second crossing, estimated at $90 million in a City and Borough of Juneau capital improvement projects study published in 2020, ranges between $340 million and $530 million in last year’s PEL study.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.