Juneau staff seek $3.5 million toward $13 million Glacier Highway water main replacement

Juneau Utilities Superintendent Brian McGuire and Utilities Engineer Alan Steffert asked the Assembly Public Works and Facilities Committee on Monday for $3.5 million toward replacing the water main under Glacier Highway between Ross Way and Salmon Creek. The committee's agenda packet lists $2.5 million transferred from four utility projects staff call lower priority, plus a separate $1 million from the water utility's enterprise fund.

The pipe is part of the city's main water line linking downtown to the Mendenhall Valley, running from Cope Park, down 12th Street and along Glacier Highway to the hospital. In their memo, McGuire and Steffert wrote that the utility has made 18 pipe break repairs so far in 2026, citing the age of the 1980s-era iron main and "its potential for a catastrophic failure seen in other parts of the CBJ Water system."

Staff say the replacement would let full system-wide water service continue independently of the Salmon Creek source in an emergency. It would also improve delivery from southern water sources to the Mendenhall Valley.

The project is estimated at $13 million, and the memo says the utility lacks the free cash to cover it all. A state Department of Environmental Conservation loan of $9 million to $10 million would cover the rest. The Assembly authorized the city manager to seek that loan, up to $10 million, on Oct. 26, after Alaska News reported on the request Oct. 22. The resolution describes a below-market loan repaid over 20 years with no forgiveness, and says the Assembly must still approve the borrowing by ordinance.

The transfers would take $1.5 million from Last Chance Basin wellfield improvements (Juneau's primary water source), $500,000 from the Egan Drive crossing water main repair, $300,000 from Salmon Creek efficiency work and $200,000 from sewer collection system improvements. Staff called those projects deferred. The memo says the Egan Drive repair could cost less by fixing the pipe in place after the Glacier Highway work is done.

The capital plan the Assembly adopted in June ranked this main 20th among water projects, with $250,000 this budget year and $6 million in a future year.

The timing is tied to a state project. The state transportation department plans to reconstruct Glacier Highway from Ross Way to the hospital, including the bike path, likely in 2029. With the pipe in the ground the year before, the city would pave only a 6- to 8-foot utility trench rather than a full lane of at least 12 feet or a 24-foot lane with shoulders. "This infrastructure opportunity will likely not occur again for the next 20 years," the memo said.

The city has awarded the design contract to DOWL. Staff asked the committee to forward the transfers and the $1 million appropriating ordinance to the full Assembly. If approved, staff said, construction could begin next spring.