Over the past few years, the Skagway Borough Assembly has been trying to resolve dangerous traffic flow issues at the corner of 5th Avenue and Spring Street, where the historic Moore Homestead is located.
But the homestead is a National Parks Service historic site, which means that any roadwork affecting the property requires permission from the federal Department of Interior.
Over 100 years ago, Captain William Moore homesteaded 160 acres in Skagway in hopes of making a fortune in the gateway to the interior gold fields. The site of the first cabin he built has since become a popular tourist attraction owned by the National Parks Service.
But the property sticks out into the street at the corner of 5th Avenue and Spring Street. This creates a narrow section of road in a high traffic area.
At an assembly meeting Thursday, Assemblyman Orion Hanson described what he sees at this corner on a daily basis over the summer.
“Often you have the Park Service interpreters and the first few people are following them in an orderly way but by the time you get back to 30 of them, they’re in the middle of the street,” Hanson said. “You have AP&T’s yard coming in and out of their direct flow. You have buses cutting back and forth from Spring Street. You have construction traffic. You have people trying to avoid Broadway. And with there being a fence right there, it’s kind of a visual barrier for pedestrians to use the boardwalk, so they end up in the middle of the road at a choke point that’s essentially a one lane road. It’s extremely dangerous.”
In 2000, the Municipality was granted permission from the National Parks Service to widen the city road onto a section of the historic homestead property in hopes of improving safety.
Due to increased tourist traffic, the assembly is reaching out to Alaska’s representatives in Washington D.C. to extend the right of way even further.
Assemblyman Steve Burnham said that it is high time that the assembly takes more substantive action to address the issue.
“The way that it has been is pretty well egregious and we need to get it fixed,” Burnham said. “We have talked with the local park officials over the last few years, and I think that it’s definitely merited, sending this to our congressional delegation.”
Jason Verhaeghe is the interpretation and education program manager for Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. He says that the National Parks Service has been working with the city to improve pedestrian safety around the Moore property by making its boardwalk more accessible.
“Prior to this season, people visiting would have to walk around a short fence to get into the area that provided a boardwalk. That just seemed kind of a natural barrier to folks that didn’t want to do that or maybe didn’t think they were allowed in there, although of course, they are. So they would choose to walk through the street. Cutting that corner off of the fence seemed to allow a lot more traffic on the boardwalk than before,” Verhaeghe said.
At the meeting Thursday, Assemblyman Hanson said that safety must take a priority over preserving the homestead.
“I get that the Park Service’s mission is to preserve the history, but this is a very dangerous situation and I think preserving history for the favor of making it dangerous is not a really good choice.”
When asked whether the national park service was concerned about changes that could affect the Moore property, Verhaeghe responded that those decisions are not up to him.
“It’s not our responsibility to decide what the American public want preserved for future generations,” Verhaeghe said. “That’s up to Congress. Regardless of any personal opinions, our mandate is to protect what we are told to protect. If congress requests that this is changed, we will wholeheartedly move forward in support of any actions taken. If Congress feels that there are other safety measures that can be made so that the lawn is protected and that that federal land is maintained as is, we will still work with the city to try to find any alternative solutions to ensure that the public is safe while visiting.”
The assembly voted unanimously to request assistance from Representative Don Young and Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan in resolving the traffic safety issues at 5th Avenue and Spring Street.
Gotta laugh……… In Skagway there are thousands of people in the street any time a one or more cruise ships land. The best thing Skagway could do is close the main street and make it pedestrians only. On a recent visit we nearly ran over three oriental visitors that had no idea that there was traffic coming and were only concerned with the photos they were taking.