Not all federal money for ferries is spent wisely

The LeConte state ferry at the Auke Bay Ferry Terminal. (Photo by Laurie Craig)

The following editorial was published by the Wrangell Sentinel.

The federal government last week finally, behind schedule and without any plausible reason for the delay, released money that will go toward running the Alaska Marine Highway System.

The grant funds, originally authorized by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill during the Biden administration, were expected last year, but the Trump administration dillied and dallied and delayed its decision until this year, just because.

The Aug. 21 announcement came with all the hoopla expected in an election year, with Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, who is seeking reelection, sharing the press conference with a federal Department of Transportation official announcing the free money for the state. 

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is not running for reelection, thankfully, also shared in the limelight, though he is part of the problem.

That problem for Alaska is twofold: The governor has insisted on using much of the federal aid to replace state dollars in the ferry system budget. It makes it look like he is cutting state spending, when all he is doing is postponing state budget decisions past when his term ends in December.

The federal program for rural ferries will end with this final round of grants. After the checks stop, a hit to ferry system operations could be felt in every coastal community from Southeast to the Aleutians.

The other part of the problem is that the governor designated $37.6 million of the federal gift to build a new ferry terminal at Cascade Point, about 42 road miles north of downtown Juneau. The decision comes despite the fact that the public advisory board to the Alaska Marine Highway System and communities oppose the project.

Supporters of the marine terminal on leased land say it would shorten the running time for ferries between Juneau and Haines and Skagway and would be useful for a company that wants to open a mine in the area and needs a way to ship out its ore.

Detractors say it’s an expensive folly that would leave passengers and vehicles miles away from Juneau’s airport, hospital, medical offices, shops and stores, without affordable and reliable transportation, adding to their travel costs and wiping out any savings from a shorter ferry route.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who pushed for the rural ferry funding program in 2021, has not supported spending federal dollars on Cascade Point. “Would Lisa Murkowski have done something different with that $37.6 million? I think the answer to that is ‘yes,’” she said at last week’s press conference. “That wasn’t mine to determine.”

It’s too bad the governor determined otherwise.