The Department of Transportation recently signed an agreement with Goldbelt Inc. to consider building a ferry terminal at Cascade point. The new terminal would serve both Skagway and Haines, but some officials in those communities don’t think the new arrangement would improve services.

On March 9th Governor Dunleavy and state transportation officials signed an MOU with Goldbelt Inc, the Alaska Native Corporation in Juneau. The parties agree to work together to do a feasibility study, evaluate the engineering requirements and estimate the cost of building and operating a ferry terminal at Cascade point, on the southern end of Berner’s bay.

Sam Dapcevitch, is a spokesman for the Department of Transportation. He says there is a tentative timeline for completing the work. 

Dapcevich: “Provided that this is a feasible project and that we want to move forward with it, what we would envision is that Goldbelt would start construction on the project in the spring of 2024 the project would hopefully wrap up towards the end of 2025.”

Dapcevich says there are advantages to the plan. Cascade point is at the northern end of the road system in Juneau. Roundtrips to Haines and Skagway would be significantly shorter, by up to four hours. 

Dapcevitch: “When the ferry is running it burns about 250 gallons an hour, so every day you are slashing one thousand gallons of fuel that we are not burning on the ferry.”   

On the other hand, the road to the terminal will have to be improved. Building a new facility will also use a significant amount of energy and resources and disturb local wildlife.

Dapcevich says DOT has been looking into this project for a long time.

Dapcevich: “You know if you look back to the original plans for the Alaska Marine Highway System back in the 60s, they were actually discussing it back then, how can we have road routes that shorten up these ferry routes. So it’s been a conversation for sixty-plus years now.”

The land at Cascade Point belongs to Goldbelt, the Juneau Native Corporation. Mc Hugh Pierre, is the CEO of Goldbelt, and he says the corporation will maintain ownership of the land and buildings. 

Pierre: “This is land that is important to Goldbelt, representing you know, essentially the treaty between the federal government and the indigenous people of the area, and we take it very seriously that we retain ownership of the land in perpetuity. There is discussion about allowing DOT to lease some of the land for upland developments.” 

Pierre says Goldbeldt would provide transportation between Juneau and the terminal.

Pierre: “Goldbelt currently provides bussing and boat transportation services for miners at the Kensington mine. And so we are already bringing busses from town into that area and we would continue to do that. It would make a lot of sense for us to partner with DOT to have a fare built in so if you are a walk-on passenger you buy a ferry ticket and then you buy a bus ticket and you automatically jump on and we have a roster of how many people we know, so we have the right size bus that goes into town and we can make multiple stops.”

As planned the terminal will not be staffed, and will not be operable in the winter. Pierre says Goldbelt’s approach is to build a bare-bones facility first and to improve it if demand justifies it. A seawall could be built at a later date to protect the terminal from Noth winds and enable winter use.  

Pierre: As the route proves itself, then wintertime activity could happen as well.”

Response to the plan has been tepid in the Northern Lynn Canal. In 2022 the Skagway assembly voted unanimously to oppose it. Mayor Andrew Cremata sees many faults with a cascade point terminal. The lack of staff. 

Cremata: “I don’t know how you  expect to maintain a facility in a place like Juneau that has pretty significant issues with drugs and crime and expect the facility to be safe, number one, number two to remain in good condition.” 

The seasonality.

Cremata: “We don’t really have issues with poor ferry service during the summer when cascade point will be theoretically open, so it doesn’t really solve our problem, especially for our school and the kids that need to travel to various events in Southeast Alaska when we primarily need that improved travel during the winter.

The distance to Juneau.

Cremata: “It’s already extremely difficult and expensive to get transportation to the Auke bay ferry terminal, another additional thirty miles along a highway that is going to have to be maintained, I don’t see how that imp[roves anybody’s quality of life here.”

The Haines borough has been more receptive, in 2021, Mayor Doug Olerud signed a letter of support for the project. But assembly member Debra Schnabel says it is time to reconsider that support.

Schnabel: “One of the reasons the Haines borough was in support of cascade point, was because there was no dependable ferry service.”

Schnabel says the situation has since changed.

Schnabel: “The Alaska Marine Highway system has elected to invest in crew quarters for the Hubbard and the Tazlina, both of them would then be equipped for running in the Lynn Canal. And so the main reason that the Haines borough supported cascade point in the past has disappeared.”

The Alaska Marine Highway now accepts public comments through its website.