New cost estimates boosting the Juneau Access Project to half a billion dollars has moved the road into the realm of “mega-projects,” a designation bringing with it new federal regulations.

A Federal Highway analysis of the 50.8 mile road up the east side of Lynn Canal is estimated to cost $491 million to complete, according to a Federal Highway Administration agency. So far $25 million has been spent.

The state’s estimate was somewhat lower at a total cost of $474 million.

The mega-project designation is designed to protect the federal government, which funds most projects of such scope, from bad or mismanaged projects that could spiral out of control.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is proposing a Juneau access road, but it is currently held up in court after a federal judge ruled the Environmental Impact Statement failed to adequately look at ferry options.

DOT project manager Reuben Yost said the designation is not a surprise.

“We knew that sooner or later we were going to get close to or trip that mark,” he said.

Among the new regulations are development of a project management plan and more federal involvement in the project, said Lois Epstein of the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project.

“They’re going to be scrutinizing the management, and scrutinizing the cost numbers more closely as well,” she said.

It is not something that Alaska projects usually face, Yost and Epstein said.

“I haven’t dealt with many projects that are this costly,” Epstein said.

The Juneau Access Project now exceeds Ketchikan’s Gravina Island “Bridge to Nowhere” in cost. Other likely mega-projects in Alaska include the Knik Arm Bridge and the proposed freeway connecting the Seward and Glenn Highways, both in the Anchorage area.

Yost said that because state officials knew they were getting close to the half billion dollar level, they knew they would need a cost estimate that would win approval from top federal highway officials. Yost said that was one of the reasons they chose the federal Highway Administration’s Western Federal Lands Center to conduct an outside cost estimate.

It is likely the federal agency would have confidence in its own subsidiary agency’s cost estimates,” he said.

In Alaska, project management plans are used for even much smaller projects, Yost said.

It is also not clear whether Juneau Access will remain a mega-project. A federal court ruling that eliminated the current preferred alternative – the road up Lynn Canal to the ferry terminal at the Katzehin River – could result in a much smaller project.

• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at 523-2250 or patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Juneau road project will cost the state nearly half a billion dollars.

The Department of Transportation and Public Facilities released a new cost estimate for Lynn Canal Highway and Katzehin Shuttle System.

DOT now says the project will cost $449 million, which is less than the Western Federal Land Division of the Federal Highway Administration’s estimate of $491 million.

Both estimates are based on designs done at the end of last year and reflect an increase in costs due to the increase in construction prices as well as changes to the design.

The project is currently on hold while the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hears a request from the state to conduct more studies.

The battle over the Lynn Canal and the proposed “Juneau Road” has galvanized communities throughout Alaska’s “southeast.” Leading the charge in support of the road has been Citizens Pro-Road, a grass-roots group fighting to see the road become reality.

In this exclusive interview from the upcoming documentary “Blue Highway”, Dick Knapp, head of Citizens Pro-Road, discusses the arguments for and against the “Juneau Access Road.”

May 27th, 2009

AIL, Colo. – May 26, 2009 – Stretching ninety miles along Alaska’s Inside Passage, the Lynn Canal is North America’s deepest fjord. Its waters were the lifeblood of the Klondike Gold Rush, and now offer visitors a window into the wild that defines Alaska. The Lynn Canal also ties the people of Alaska’s Southeast together. It is their highway.

But for more than three decades, the fight over a proposed highway, a land-based road running alongside the Canal, has divided communities and left the future of the Lynn Canal in doubt.

On Friday, Jun. 5 at 8 p.m., Costa Del Mar® will debut its documentary film Blue Highway as part of the Outdoor Reels Series at the Teva Mountain Games in Vail. The movie begins as a film about a kayak trip tracing the historic Lynn Canal travels of John Muir, but becomes a study of both sides of the battle over the proposed Juneau Access Road

To be held at the Lodge at Vail, the Blue Highway film premiere is a free event for Teva Mountain Games attendees, and all are invited to screen the movie that asks the questions, “After more than three decades of debate, is there anything left to say? Can two sides separated by environmental, economic and cultural concerns ever come together?”

“Blue Highway shows you both sides of the proposed Juneau road building issue, and asks the viewers to decide for themselves which side they’re on,” said Al Perkinson, VP of Marketing for Costa Del Mar. “The project is still in the planning stages, which means the Alaskan people have the opportunity to let their legislature and Governor Palin’s administration know how they want this issue to play out. And we have the chance to educate the rest of the country about an important issue that’s happening in one of the most pristine states in the Union.”