Juneau presses state to add North Crossing bridge to 2027-2030 road plan

Juneau has told the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities that including the Juneau-Douglas North Crossing, a second bridge to Douglas Island, as a high priority in the state's next road plan is "a must." The city's capital priority list warns that if the existing Juneau-Douglas Bridge failed or became blocked, Douglas Island residents would be stranded, emergency services would be hindered and access to the hospital would be cut off. A second crossing has been a community priority since the early 1980s, the list says.

The draft 2027-2030 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program has no entry for the project. Commissioner Ryan Anderson told the Senate Transportation Committee on Sept. 24 that this was "because we obligated those funds for design. There was a discretionary grant and an earmark already." He said the plan shows only money still to be obligated, which the draft defines as the federal government's legal commitment to reimburse project costs, and that the project remains active.

Sen. Jesse Kiehl asked whether the department meant to spend the federal money and stop. Anderson said the department needs a finance plan with Juneau and that amendments can follow. "I don't think there is any intent to start something that stops here," he said, adding that some unknowns would be hard to program until the environmental phase is underway. Kiehl called it "a little concerning not to see any dollars programmed here, even into the furthest out years."

The city's written comments are in the packet for Monday's Public Works and Facilities Committee meeting and say the project was included in the 2024-2027 plan. City Manager Katie Koester told the Assembly's Committee of the Whole that evening that the city's comments focused on construction funding that was "excluded this year" for the crossing, and said "They have been included in previous years."

The current plan, as amended, lists about $23.5 million, all in fiscal 2025, for design and environmental review, with no construction phase and no money after fiscal 2027. As first approved in March 2024, the plan listed $400 million after 2027, with construction planned for 2028-2030, a planning estimate beyond its four-year window. The second amendment, approved in 2025, listed none, and its entry does not explain why.

No one has construction money or a chosen route yet. A state study released in July 2025 sent five route options, plus a no-build option, to environmental review at planning-level costs of $340 million to $530 million in 2024 dollars. The state's draft Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan update recommends: "Advance the Juneau Douglas North Crossing project."

The crossing ranks second on the city's capital priority list, behind glacial flood work. The list counts $26.5 million secured, including $7 million in congressionally directed spending obtained with support from Sen. Lisa Murkowski and a $15.1 million federal RAISE grant, and asks for $3 million in fiscal 2028 for a funding gap it attributes to inflation. Once a route is chosen, the city plans to apply for federal highway construction money.

The comment period on the draft road plan closed Monday, after an extension from Oct. 29. The department says it will respond to comments and revise the draft before sending the final plan to federal highway and transit agencies.

The state is to release a request for proposals for the next phase, environmental review and preliminary design, which the city's list says is set to start this fall. The capital priority list goes to the full Assembly on Dec. 14, with adoption scheduled for January 2027.