Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT/PF) Commissioner Kemp transmitted a paper today titled Alaska Class Ferry: Project Overview and Change in Direction. Go to the Haines Borough website and click on Alaska Class Ferry Changes under "What's New" to download the document.
Read it and let's talk.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Dear Governor Parnell....
Governor
Parnell, your decision, announced on December 4, to abandon the ongoing Alaska
Class Ferry project in favor of smaller shuttle ferries raises many questions. As Mayor of Haines, I have been
inundated with comments, questions, and requests for information from Haines
residents. As to the questions and
requests, I am as bereft of information as any of my constituents. I cannot overemphasize the importance
of this issue to my constituents.
The
Haines Borough Assembly will convene on Tuesday, January 8, 2013, and again on
January 22nd. Sometime during our January schedule, I
expect that the assembly will wish to express a more formal opinion on this
issue. For that reason, I
respectfully ask that you and your staff provide me with whatever of the
following information that it is possible to assemble and transmit by early
January, so that assembly members will be able to incorporate the information
into their thinking. I have tried
to formulate questions that I think are key to our perception of the course
change, but please do not hesitate to confine your response to my
questions. Please feel free to
tell us what you believe we need to know in order to think clearly and
carefully about your proposal.
First,
we are all very curious to know how the decision was made. Your press release states that the
decision was made “after it became apparent … that building a 350-foot ferry, on budget, in Alaska,
could not be accomplished.” Where
did these cost figures come from? Who
participated in this decision?
Would,
or should, the new plan be subject to legislative approval?
Why
did you not follow established procedures for decisions about Alaska’s
ferries? The Marine Transportation
Advisory Board was established in 2003 and adopted in statute in 2009. It is a part of your Department of
Transportation. The MTAB was taken
completely by surprise by this decision. As far as I can discover, the Ketchikan shipyard was taken by
surprise by this decision, as were Southeast Alaska legislators. It looks to me as though your Deputy Commissioner
for Marine Operations, Captain Michael Neussl was also surprised. Many Haines residents feel that
circumvention of the public process is one of the most important issues
implicated by your decision. How
can I reassure them that participation in the public process is not in vain?
If
there is no design established yet for the two shuttle ferries your new plan
contemplates, how can you make the statement:
By
setting a new course, Alaskans can build two smaller Alaska Class Ferries and
stay on budget, and at the same time provide the same or better level of
service Alaskans expect from our marine highways.
[Press release, Governor’s Office, December 4,
2012]
What
level of service do you believe is appropriate for Upper Lynn Canal? By that I mean, how many cancellations
or seasickness-inducing sailings are you planning for? The Southeast
Alaska Transportation Plan Shuttle Ferry Study, prepared in January of
2010, notes that
If the vessel is sized to the traffic demand, AMHS must ask
of their customers whether a reduced reliability of service is acceptable,
especially during the winter months.
If a vessel can make 99 out of 100 scheduled trips in the summer, but
only 80 out of 100 trips in the winter, does that reach an acceptable level of
service? How should the ferry
compare with other publically funded transportation such as the highways? These are policy questions, not design
questions.
[Study,
page 21]
That
study discusses wave conditions and wind speeds in various areas in
Southeast. While I am not familiar
with the exact terminology used, I question whether the Elliot Bay group
properly assessed conditions in Upper Lynn Canal. The wave heights throughout the study appear to be
underestimated. [1] The LeConte
was cancelled twice this week due to 11-foot seas. The past several weeks have seen sustained winds in the 55-knot
range, with higher gusts. While
the LeConte (235’) was cancelled Wednesday and Friday, the Taku (352’) sailed
Thursday, in essentially the same weather.
What
connection, if any, does this change bear to the proposed Juneau Access Road?
What
is the conceptual design for the shuttle ferries? Is it true that you are considering an at least partially
open car deck? [Did you see this
recent picture of the LeConte in Upper Lynn Canal?]
Your
DOT Commissioner (Acting) Pat Kemp told me that his department is “going
to assemble a paper that discusses the information and key points that led to
the decision.” [Email to me, Dec. 11, 2012] Can you tell me when this study will be available?
Finally,
may I meet with you or your representative soon, in person or via
teleconference, about our concerns?
Thank you.
[1] It is also possible that sea conditions
need to be reexamined in light of research that indicates that wind speeds and
wave height will increase with global warming. See http://www.researchgate.net/publication/50850792_Global_trends_in_wind_speed_and_wave_height
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