Juneau closes Calhoun Avenue pedestrian bridge a year after setting aside money to replace it

The City and Borough of Juneau closed the pedestrian bridge and stairs over downtown Calhoun Avenue on Oct. 9 after a state inspection, saying the 1977 structure had exceeded its useful life.

Crews put up signs and barriers, and the city asks pedestrians to use another route to and from Dixon Street. In a release dated Oct. 10, the city said decisions on demolition or replacement "are yet to be determined."

The release says bridge engineers with the Alaska Department of Transportation recently inspected the bridge and that the city closed it for safety. It gives no inspection date or findings.

The city decided more than a year ago to replace the bridge. On Aug. 4, 2025, John Bohan, the city's chief engineer for capital improvement projects, proposed a replacement project to the Assembly's Public Works and Facilities Committee, calling it "the old and rapidly failing pedestrian bridge." He wrote that a recent state inspection had found it still safe for walkers but identified many structural deficiencies and costly repairs.

The memo sought $750,000 in sales tax money moved from street projects that were finished or had money left over. It said the shift would allow planning and design over the fall and winter and "construction to occur during the 2026 season."

Asked at the meeting how often the state assesses bridges, Bohan said the state inspects every Juneau bridge yearly, that Calhoun had shown to be failing and that replacing its larger parts would trigger a rebuild, according to meeting minutes.

The Assembly approved the money Sept. 22, 2025, by unanimous consent. The same transfer, about $3.7 million in all, also funded a Taku Boulevard reconstruction and a Bear Creek culvert replacement in Douglas.

City financial records show no spending on the bridge since. City summaries dated March 2 and July 2 show nothing committed and nothing spent on the bridge, while the Taku Boulevard project had about $1 million committed by July. The six-year capital program the Assembly adopted June 8 added no new bridge money.

One record does not match the rest. The transfer form in the Sept. 22, 2025, Assembly packet lists about $2.6 million beside the bridge and $750,000 beside Taku Boulevard. Bohan's memo and every later city summary give the bridge $750,000. The city has not explained the form.

The closure release does not say whether the $750,000 remains with the project, why construction did not go forward in 2026 or who will decide between demolition and replacement.

The Public Works and Facilities Committee next meets Nov. 2.