Southeast Alaska needs a reliable ferry system, not another ferry terminal

Cascade Point north of Juneau. (Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities photo)

By Richard J. Peterson

For generations, the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) has been a lifeline for Southeast Alaska. Our ferries are not simply a convenience or a way to access recreational opportunities. They are essential transportation infrastructure, connecting families, supporting local economies, moving goods, and providing access to health care, education, employment, and other critical services.

Yet today, our ferry system is failing the very communities it was created to serve.

Under the Dunleavy administration we have watched routes disappear, schedules become unreliable, vessels age, and communities struggle to know when they will see their next ferry. Labor disputes and workforce challenges have added to the uncertainty. For rural communities, these are not minor inconveniences. They mean missed medical appointments, disrupted family connections, higher costs for basic necessities, and fewer economic opportunities.

Against this backdrop, the State of Alaska is moving forward with plans to construct a new ferry terminal at Cascade Point, on Goldbelt Inc. land, approximately 30 miles north of Juneau's existing Auke Bay Ferry Terminal.

The question is straightforward: Why are we spending millions of taxpayer dollars to build another ferry terminal when we cannot adequately maintain and operate the ferry system we already have?

Juneau already has a functioning ferry terminal at Auke Bay. Rather than investing in another terminal farther from the population centers it is intended to serve, the state should direct its limited transportation dollars toward maintaining existing infrastructure, repairing aging vessels, improving routes, and restoring dependable service throughout Southeast Alaska.

The proposed Cascade Point project has an estimated cost of approximately $120 million in the state's draft transportation improvement plan. Meanwhile, the state has identified $80.46 million in planned FY 2029 construction funding for the project. That is an extraordinary investment at a time when existing marine highway infrastructure and operations are struggling for adequate support.

Tlingit and Haida opposes Cascade Point, and urges the state to redirect that $80.46 million toward repairing and improving the existing Skagway ferry terminal, and reestablishing ferry service between Southeast Alaska and Prince Rupert, British Columbia. These investments would strengthen existing transportation connections, reconnect families and communities, improve access to the broader road network, and create meaningful economic opportunities. Restoring the Prince Rupert connection would also provide another important route for Alaskans traveling for health care, education, employment and other essential needs.

The Dunleavy administration has argued that Cascade Point would shorten travel times between Juneau, Haines and Skagway, and reduce operating costs. Those potential efficiencies must be weighed against the full cost of construction, ongoing maintenance, additional ground transportation and the burden placed on passengers. Moving a ferry terminal farther from Juneau's population centers does not make transportation more accessible or affordable. It shifts costs and logistical challenges to travelers, particularly elders, families, people with disabilities, and residents without personal vehicles.

We should be building a ferry system around the needs of our communities, not forcing our communities to accommodate a system that continues to fall short.

The state must also take seriously the public opposition to this project. More than 90% of comments submitted during an earlier public comment period opposed Cascade Point. That level of opposition should give state leadership and the incoming administration serious reason to reconsider the project. Public comment should be more than a procedural requirement. When the overwhelming majority of people who take the time to participate express opposition, government has a responsibility to listen.

Instead, we are seeing reports that the state intends to move forward despite significant public opposition. Equipment has been staged at Cascade Point in apparent preparation for construction, even as serious questions remain about environmental review, permitting, costs, and the project's broader public benefits.

Most alarming, the proposed construction threatens a documented ancestral burial site. The state must not sacrifice our ancestors' resting places for a transportation project. These sites are not expendable, and their destruction cannot be undone. The state has an obligation to protect these irreplaceable cultural resources, fully assess the project's impacts, and meaningfully engage Tlingit and Haida before taking any action that could disturb our ancestral places.

There are also legitimate questions about who stands to benefit most from Cascade Point, particularly given its potential role in supporting nearby mining activity. Public transportation dollars should not be used to subsidize private interests. If private industrial development is a significant beneficiary of this project, those benefits and financial arrangements must be fully disclosed, and private companies should bear the costs. Southeast Alaska communities have pressing transportation needs. Our limited public resources should serve the people who live here, not be diverted to infrastructure whose primary benefits may accrue to private industry.

This is not about opposing progress or economic development. It is about demanding that public investments deliver real benefits to the public. Our communities need a long-term commitment to rebuilding the Alaska Marine Highway System: investing in existing vessels and terminals, addressing deferred maintenance, recruiting and retaining qualified maritime workers, and establishing reliable, predictable schedules that communities can depend on.

As president of Tlingit and Haida, I represent nearly 39,000 Tribal Citizens throughout Southeast Alaska and beyond. I hear directly from our citizens and community leaders who struggle with inconsistent ferry service. These are communities where transportation costs are already extraordinarily high, groceries and basic necessities are increasingly expensive, and dependable transportation can make the difference between accessing opportunity and remaining isolated.

The success of our marine highway system cannot be measured solely by operating efficiencies or travel times on a single route. It must be measured by how effectively it connects communities, keeps families together, supports local economies, and provides access to the services people depend on. I often say that healthy tribes make healthy communities. The same principle applies to transportation: when our communities are connected and supported, our entire region benefits.

The State of Alaska should cancel the Cascade Point project and redirect the planned construction funding toward the existing transportation infrastructure and connections that Southeast Alaska needs most. It should prioritize reliable ferry schedules, repair the Skagway terminal, and restore the Prince Rupert connection.

We should not be building new terminals while existing infrastructure deteriorates. We should not be asking rural Alaskans to accept fewer sailings and less dependable service while millions are committed to a project that has not demonstrated broad public support. And we should not confuse building something new with fixing what is broken.

Juneau does not need another ferry terminal. We need a ferry system that works.

Our communities deserve nothing less.

• Richard J. Peterson is the president of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.