The Alaska Marine Highway System released its October to April draft operating plan Monday, allowing the public four days to comment.
The LeConte will cover Haines until Feb. 15, 2021 when it will be overhauled and resume service April 12. The Matanuska will serve Haines during that gap while the LeConte is being overhauled.
The Alaska Department of Transportation issued a press release that said the ferry system has received “significantly lower revenues than expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“As a result, it has become necessary to build the operating plan with minimal essential service to most communities,” the press release says.
It’s unclear how many days a week Haines will receive ferry service and Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Sam Dapcevich did not respond to questions by press time.
The Department of Transportation is soliciting public comment on the draft plan until Aug. 14. Comments can be submitted to [email protected].
The plan can be viewed at https://dot.alaska.gov/amhs/doc/service_notices/op_plan_W21.pdf.