Recently, I conversed with an ex-Juneau road builder, whom had contributed to the paving of Egan Highway (from the Glacier Rd.cut-off at the Valley McDonalds to Highland Ave.) and my passion was piqued.
Expounding on the benefits of that project, I asked him how he felt about extending this paved roadway the necessary 70 or so miles north to Haines or Skagway. Understandably, he responded with marveling proclamations.
But when asked how he proposed to engineer this “compliment to human ingenuity,” with the intervening Juneau ice field in the way, his solution was to “burrow beneath” the glacial spurs.
“Foolishness,” it’s the only resolution to an insane proposal; an Alaskan mega-project which seeks to avail man’s ambitions over nature by bulldozing the Tongass National Forest. This characterizes the knee-jerk impulsiveness of industrial growth, a la self-serving interests. The road controversy symbolizes the thought processes of self-interest as it competes with social-interest to mobilize society.
Granted, this motivational dichotomy is necessary for the careful advance of human welfare. But the unwarranted power of one interest over the other, achieved through dubious and duplicitous means, results in a destructive waste of energy.
And everything is energy, just ask Einstein.
Anybody who thinks they’ll be able to drive their vehicle from Juneau to an interchange with the North American paved auto-grid 75 miles north, must have their senses stuffed where the ‘sun doesn’t shine’.
Most of that distance is a glacial ice field never more than 50 yards inland and often ceasing at sheer rock towers. These cliffs may be skirted by broad tidal mudflats, but talk about shooting yourself in the foot. This kind of tidal pools are where animals took their first steps on land. Construction along those shorelines may have food chain reverberations on par with the Exxon Valdez spill, but unlike that one-time catastrophe there will be ever-worsening impacts as development and traffic increase along the projected route.
Mega-projects of this ilk are nothing more than a siphon on resources. With so many inhabited islands throughout Southeast Alaska, ferry service is critical to mobility for the majority of Alaskans. What is most nonsensical about this proposal is that ferry service will still be required.
Though the Kensington Mine will have paved access to Juneau at the end of this road, they’ll still need a ferry after it bridges the Katzehin River delta, whether they truck their excavations to Juneau or ship them across Lynn Canal to Haines.
Why not just build a loading dock on the Canal at the Katzehin and save the diversity of life for the children?
