Juneau's draft capital priorities list asks $5 million for Highlands drainage study

Juneau's draft list of legislative capital priorities asks for $5 million to begin work on the aging drainage system above the Highlands neighborhood, the first time the project has appeared on the list. The city's Systemic Racism Review Committee is scheduled to review the full draft at noon Tuesday, Nov. 17, before it goes to the Assembly.

The historic system in downtown Juneau is the primary collector of mountain runoff before it reaches the densely populated Highlands area and the community's primary transportation corridor, according to a Sept. 21 memo from Nate Rumsey, the Engineering and Public Works deputy director. "The age and incompatibility of the drainage system, with increasing impacts of climate change, make the entire area at risk of severe landslides, flooding, and mass wasting events," the memo said.

City staff put the full cost at $10 million to $20 million, and the draft lists no money secured.

The first $5 million would go toward scoping, mass wasting reconnaissance and early analysis of alternatives. A hydrologic and hydraulic study would guide the repairs, according to the draft. It would help decide among open channels without culverts, larger replacement culverts, sumps and grizzlies (culvert inlets), or a hybrid. Staff say the study and design would take 18 to 24 months once funding is secured.

The drainage fix was added to the draft list in early October. The same draft recommends removing the Bartlett Regional Hospital emergency department project, which is fully funded and under construction.

The list is not itself a funding request, according to the city. Juneau uses it to tell the Alaska Legislature, the congressional delegation and the public which large projects matter most. Projects must cost more than $1 million and produce an asset that lasts more than 20 years. The city's goal is to get at least partial funding into the state capital budget or a federal earmark.

The committee first took up the list at its Nov. 3 meeting.

The Assembly Public Works and Facilities Committee is scheduled to review the list Nov. 30. Assembly introduction is set for Dec. 14.