Stretching ninety miles along Alaska’s Inside Passage, the Lynn Canal is North America’s deepest fjord. It’s waters were the lifeblood of the Klondike Gold Rush, and now offer 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 over three decades, the fight over a new highway, a land-based road running alongside the canal, has divided communities and left the future of the Lynn Canal in doubt.

Blue Highway 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. After more than 30 years of debate, is there anything left to say, and can two sides separated by environmental, economic and cultural concerns ever come together?

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.

To date, every single problematic aspect of building the Juneau access road has a sound and valid solution to it. I agree with Gov. Sarah Palin’s statement while she was running for governor: “I do not understand why anybody would not want a road.” There must be some hidden agenda in the mindset of the anti-road group that we mere mortals are unaware of. Perhaps they are afraid of the inbound traffic on what would become the world’s most beautiful road?

The pro-road people have continually been put on the defensive side of this argument, as they fend off one potential problem after the next. What comes next? The defense of the endangered left-handed tree frog’s habitat? The question should not be should we have a road, but why we didn’t get one 50 years ago.

Transportation is the life blood of any community. Comparing ferry boats to road systems is like comparing apples and oranges. A ferry boat’s service is like a blood transfusion. A road is like an intact vein or major artery. When we discuss the road issue, we are talking about the very survival of Juneau. Even if they move the capital, we have a chance of survival as a viable community with a road, whereas without one we’ll become a ghost town for summer tourists to visit.

Since we pro-roaders continue to be on the defensive side of this argument, perhaps some of you who are undecided on the issues will keep an open mind to the matter and focus on the end product of having an access road. My reasons are numerous, although I am not anti ferry boat. In fact, the road will help the ferry system, mainly be eliminating the need for up to two ferries to ply the Lynn Canal route, which should result in better ferry service for all SE Alaska. If two brand new ferries were built today, in 50 years they would have to be recycled into razor blades, whereas a road would continue to service everyone.

I have followed with interest the actions for a second crossing here in Juneau. Have you ever wondered why the second crossing is a planned bridge instead of a new ferry crossing Gastineau Channel? The same reasoning applies to the access road. Let common sense prevail.

Mark S. Patterson
Tee Harbor

Despite Alaska’s size, politics in the state almost always feels like small-town politics. When it comes to the debate over the proposed Lynn Canal road, some politicians always seem to be at the center of the argument.

In an exclusive interview from the upcoming film “Blue Highway,” State Senator Kim Elton discusses life in Alaska’s “southeast,” the fight over the proposed “Juneau Road,” and the changes it could bring to the region.

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.”

JUNEAU – The Alaska Senate today decided not to endorse the controversial Juneau Road, but went ahead with an endorsement of the more widely supported Kensington Mine. Sen. Lisel McGuire, R-Anchorage, sponsored Senate Resolution 8, calling on Gov. Sarah Palin to ensure the many permits for the mine, owned by parent company Coeur D’Alene based in Idaho, remain active.

McGuire sponsored the resolution because the Juneau Senate seat is currently vacant.

The mine is currently awaiting a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on its waste disposal permit, which was earlier overturned by the Ninth Court of Appeals.

“We’re urging the governor to immediately implement those permits, should the Supreme Court rule in favor of Coeur and the Kensington Mine,” McGuire said.

Sen. Con Bunde, R-Anchorage, said completion of an access road up the east side of Lynn Canal would provide an economic benefit to the mine.

The road’s permits were overturned by the court after its Environmental Impact Statement was found to be inadequate for failing to consider additional ferry service instead of a road.

McGuire said she supported the road, but it was a different, and controversial, issue.

“It’s a wholly separate creature,” she said. “The resolution as it stands right now is clean, and has solid support.”

An amendment to add support for the road failed, with only Sens. Bunde, Gene Therriault, R-Anchorage, and Tom Wagoner, R-Kenai, voting in favor. All other senators opposed it.

The resolution supporting the mine passed unanimously. The House of Representatives passed a similar resolution Thursday.

Contact reporter Pat Forgey at 586-4816 or patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.

A federal judge handed advocates of the Juneau Road a big defeat in February when he overturned the project’s approval, and then a smaller defeat last month when he refused to reconsider that decision. State Department of Transportation and Public Facilities officials are maintaining that U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick misread the evidence and got the decision wrong, however.

Now the state’s next action on the Juneau Access Project must be made by June 5. That’s the deadline by which the state must decide whether to appeal Sedwick’s decision to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sedwick ruled that the Environmental Impact Statement for the 50.8-mile road up Lynn Canal to the Katzehin River must also consider ways to use existing ferries to improve service, along with the department’s preferred option of a road up the east side of Lynn Canal.

“Based on our review of the record, additional ferry service in Lynn Canal was considered and the court reached the wrong conclusion,” said Leo von Scheben, DOT&PF commissioner, in a recent press release. That release came after Sedwick made his original ruling, and then declined to reconsider it.

The plaintiffs in the case, including the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council, were represented by Earthjustice, a non-profit environmental law firm.

Judge Sedwick reached the correct decision on the reconsideration, said Earthjustice attorney Kate Glover.

“He determined, rightly, that he’d already considered that argument and rejected the motion,” Glover said.

“At this point (the state) needs to decide whether they are appealing, are going to redo the EIS and take a look at ferry service, or just drop the project altogether,” she said.

A decision on whether to appeal is now being made, said Sean Lynch, assistant attorney general with the Alaska Department of Law. A supplemental EIS is also under consideration.

An appeal through the court process could mean a long delay for the project, and even longer if the appeal goes on to the U.S. Supreme Court. months to years

A supplemental EIS to take a look at improved ferry service in Lynn Canal could also take significant time to complete, Lynch said.

“It’s nothing that’s just slapped together,” he said. “There’s a public process involved.”

Gov. Palin last week issued a press release suggesting an appeal may not be in the works.

“Tying this issue up in court certainly doesn’t help this project move forward,” she said, adding that the project was still needed. “Improved access into Juneau will boost the future economy and increase jobs.”

Palin said she asked the law and transportation departments to “develop a plan to move forward where all of the facts relevant to the project can be considered without a cloud of litigation hanging over it.”

SEACC spokesman Mark Gnadt said he doubts an appeal would be successful.

“The judge’s decision was pretty decisive,” he said. “Maybe they’re thinking that the Ninth Circuit would be in their favor.”

“The ball’s in the governor’s court now,” he said.

When Palin became governor in late 2006 she canceled initial work begun on the project by former Gov. Frank Murkowski, and insisted that the project clear legal hurdles before moving forwards.

Sedwick, in February’s ruling, issued an injunction against the project that will prevent work from restarting.

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