Post by ferryfast admin on Feb 26, 2006 12:23:15 GMT -5
Web posted February 26, 2006
My Turn: Don't succumb to scare tactics; build the road
By RICH POOR
Posted On The Juneau Empire
juneauempire.com/
Alternative 2B will reduce cost to the traveling public by 90 percent, increase vehicle capacity by 500 percent and provide round-trip service to Haines eight times a day and to Skagway six times a day. So what do these groups focus on now? The danger of avalanches on the last 20-mile segment of the road to the Katzehin River. And why? To turn you against alternative 2B.
DOT knows avalanches are dangerous. That is why they conduct avalanche control nearly every winter on Thane Road. People drive to and from Thane every day of the year with few delays. Avalanche control is also required on the Seward, Parks, Richardson, Haines and Klondike highways, yet statistics show that no traveler in a vehicle has been killed in Alaska by an avalanche since 1969.
If I wanted to scare you from using the Alaska Marine Highway System, I would point to the recent Egyptian ferry disaster on the Red Sea. More than 1,000 people died. The culprit was fire onboard a 35-year-old ferry compounded by human error. Three of Alaska's mainline ferries are now more than 40 years old and are facing restrictions from Canadian ports because of the new Canadian "Safety of Life at Sea" regulations. I would also remind you that 852 people drowned in 1994 when the ferry Estonia sank in route to Stockholm due to rough seas and human error. Every time our ferries sail in Lynn Canal they pass by Vanderbilt Reef, the site of the Princess Sophia sinking that claimed over 300 lives - the greatest marine loss ever in Alaska.
If you think these type of accidents could never happen on an Alaskan ferry, I would remind you about the LeConte running aground in broad daylight on Cozain Reef in Peril Straights in May 2004, and the Taku smashing into an island in the 1970s, all while carrying modern navigational equipment. The cause of the accidents? Human error. If it had been the Fairweather traveling at a cruising speed of 30 to 40 mph, vessel damage and passenger injuries would have been much more severe. The point is, you are never totally safe from potential accidents or human error while traveling.
Anti-road groups are also saying that Alternative 2B will cost 45 percent more than the no-action alternative. This is a misleading comparison because 2B includes a state match for capital cost. The no-action alternative has no capital cost or ferry replacement cost over the 30 year period. The no-action alternative will run the existing ferries to the end of their useful life without a plan for future replacement. The no-action alternative will provide less ferry service than is being provided in Lynn Canal and does not take into account recent major increases in fuel costs.
On the same subject, Juneau's only senator has coined Alternative 2B as "just a driveway to another ferry terminal." If this means I will save more than 90 percent on travel costs and be able to get out of Juneau more conveniently, that's a driveway I'm willing to travel any time. Our senator apparently supports the continuation of the existing ferry system. I would like to ask the senator how he plans to reduce cost to the traveling public, how he plans to increase vehicle capacity in Lynn Canal, and how he plans to reduce the 50 percent-plus state subsidy for the marine highway system? Also, who will pay for the 30 percent-plus increase in its operating budget from fiscal year 2006 to 2007? Never mind. We should all know the answer to that one - the traveling public and the state general fund.
• Douglas resident Rich Poor has 31 years of transportation experience and is a former Juneau Assembly member.
My Turn: Don't succumb to scare tactics; build the road
By RICH POOR
Posted On The Juneau Empire
juneauempire.com/
Alternative 2B will reduce cost to the traveling public by 90 percent, increase vehicle capacity by 500 percent and provide round-trip service to Haines eight times a day and to Skagway six times a day. So what do these groups focus on now? The danger of avalanches on the last 20-mile segment of the road to the Katzehin River. And why? To turn you against alternative 2B.
DOT knows avalanches are dangerous. That is why they conduct avalanche control nearly every winter on Thane Road. People drive to and from Thane every day of the year with few delays. Avalanche control is also required on the Seward, Parks, Richardson, Haines and Klondike highways, yet statistics show that no traveler in a vehicle has been killed in Alaska by an avalanche since 1969.
If I wanted to scare you from using the Alaska Marine Highway System, I would point to the recent Egyptian ferry disaster on the Red Sea. More than 1,000 people died. The culprit was fire onboard a 35-year-old ferry compounded by human error. Three of Alaska's mainline ferries are now more than 40 years old and are facing restrictions from Canadian ports because of the new Canadian "Safety of Life at Sea" regulations. I would also remind you that 852 people drowned in 1994 when the ferry Estonia sank in route to Stockholm due to rough seas and human error. Every time our ferries sail in Lynn Canal they pass by Vanderbilt Reef, the site of the Princess Sophia sinking that claimed over 300 lives - the greatest marine loss ever in Alaska.
If you think these type of accidents could never happen on an Alaskan ferry, I would remind you about the LeConte running aground in broad daylight on Cozain Reef in Peril Straights in May 2004, and the Taku smashing into an island in the 1970s, all while carrying modern navigational equipment. The cause of the accidents? Human error. If it had been the Fairweather traveling at a cruising speed of 30 to 40 mph, vessel damage and passenger injuries would have been much more severe. The point is, you are never totally safe from potential accidents or human error while traveling.
Anti-road groups are also saying that Alternative 2B will cost 45 percent more than the no-action alternative. This is a misleading comparison because 2B includes a state match for capital cost. The no-action alternative has no capital cost or ferry replacement cost over the 30 year period. The no-action alternative will run the existing ferries to the end of their useful life without a plan for future replacement. The no-action alternative will provide less ferry service than is being provided in Lynn Canal and does not take into account recent major increases in fuel costs.
On the same subject, Juneau's only senator has coined Alternative 2B as "just a driveway to another ferry terminal." If this means I will save more than 90 percent on travel costs and be able to get out of Juneau more conveniently, that's a driveway I'm willing to travel any time. Our senator apparently supports the continuation of the existing ferry system. I would like to ask the senator how he plans to reduce cost to the traveling public, how he plans to increase vehicle capacity in Lynn Canal, and how he plans to reduce the 50 percent-plus state subsidy for the marine highway system? Also, who will pay for the 30 percent-plus increase in its operating budget from fiscal year 2006 to 2007? Never mind. We should all know the answer to that one - the traveling public and the state general fund.
• Douglas resident Rich Poor has 31 years of transportation experience and is a former Juneau Assembly member.