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Juneau Road
Steep Not Cheap video (YouTube)
Golder Report (on project engineering)
Alaska Roads and Bridges to Nowhere
Feds demand DOT use fiscal restraint (pdf)
2005 Harrera Report (on project cost)
LATEST: Feds concerned about Alaska Department of Transportation's lack of fiscal restraint. DOT has a number of huge projects in its plans for the next few years, including the Juneau Road to Nowhere, but it has not shown how it plans to pay for them. The Federal Highway Administration wants DOT to show them the money before moving forward. Read the letter.
The Juneau Road: The Granddaddy of all Roads to Nowhere
The proposed Juneau Road to Nowhere would add 50 miles of new road from Echo Cove (40 miles north of Juneau), dead-ending at a new ferry terminal on the Katzehin River. From there, drivers would have to catch a shuttle ferry to Haines or Skagway.
"We're not intending to spend money lightly" and "if we're building a road, it better not be a road to nowhere." - Barack Obama, USA Today 12/19/2008
This two-lane road would cross 31 avalanche chutes and miles of unstable, difficult terrain.
According to a report released in July 2009, the Federal Highway Administration estimates the total project cost at over 500 million taxpayer dollars! Of course, Alaska DOT's estimate conveniently put the total at only $499 million to avoid triggering federal "mega-project" status for projects over $500 million.
At a time when federal transportation funding is declining, this project would pull state funding from other projects if the state goes forward with it.
RECENT UPLOADS- Due to recent interest, we've uploaded the 2005 Harrera Report on the accuracy of DOT's cost estimates for this project. A quote from that report:
Based on our review, we have concluded that some costs associated with the construction of the
Lynn Canal road are low and other costs that could reasonably be estimated at this stage of the
project have not been included in ADOT&PF's cost estimates. - 2005 Harrera Report
Between early 2005 when this report came out and fall of 2007 when DOT released its latest cost estimate, the estimated cost of the project increased over $100 million. DOT still has not completed the engineering and other work necessary to fill in the gaps mentioned in this report.
DOT did contract with the Anchorage branch of the international engineering firm, Golder and Associates, to perform geotechnical studies for one of the four sections of the proposed highway.
DOT has not yet authorized Golder and Associates or any other contractor to complete the engineering and hazard investigations for the other three sections.
