Have you looked at the summer ferry schedule? At first glance, it looks like Haines has ferry service every day. We don’t. The State of Alaska has built us a new ferry that is so crippled by mismanagement that it can only do half of what the LeConte can do. The Tazlina will come to Haines from Juneau on one day, spend the night here, and then go back to Juneau the next day. Just when you thought you could get to Juneau when you had planned, you can’t.
In 2015 I wrote a letter alerting the Marine Highway managers that without crew quarters being designed into the new ships, they would not be able to complete the Lynn Canal loop in a day. I met with Governor Walker and alerted him to the problem. He assured me that it would be fixed, but the Legislature refused to spend the money.
Now DOT is talking about building a new ferry terminal at the end of the Juneau Road so the Tazlina can complete the Lynn Canal loop in a day. This is absurd. Nearly half of all ferry passengers are walk-ons. A taxi to Juneau will cost over $100. Instead of a new terminal in the middle of nowhere, DOT needs to build crew quarters into the new ships and hire enough personnel to run them.
The Marine Highway is being killed by starvation and mismanagement. And as the ferry system declines, so will the small communities of Southeast.
Rob Goldberg