Juneau has a significant increase in cruise ship tourism in one year, according to visitor industry estimates. Is the city doing enough to manage the growing number of cruise ship visitors? Why or why not?

  • District 2 Assembly

    • Wade Bryson

      Candidate for District 2 Assembly

      I’ve been saying for quite some time now that this summer and next summer are going to be the tightest, most congested summers in Juneau’s history. We have major projects that are taking place right now. The Egan Road DOT project, when that’s done next summer, it’s going to provide a significantly better flow of traffic out of the community. We also approved and have already begun construction on the Archipelago project that has not only a short bus staging area that can absorb thousands of people a day … but then also the Archipelago shopping area itself is going to have increased shops and increased restaurant capacities. That is going to absorb, again, thousands of people a day. In two summers, it’s going to feel a lot less impacted. We have to go through the growing pains first, though.

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  • District 1 Assembly

    • Greg Smith

      Candidate for District 1 Assembly

      One thing I am hearing as I’m out talking to neighbors is impacts due to cruise ship passengers. I need to see what kinds of studies have been done so far, but it may be time to be looking at impacts and we should always be evaluating ways to mitigate those impacts and keep a high quality of life for our neighbors and for residents.

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    • Alicia Hughes-Skandijs

      Candidate for District 1 Assembly

      I think we can expect to see the numbers — the growth that we saw in this past year — I don’t think that’s going to continue based on the estimates, so I think we’ll see that number level off. However, that is a really significant number to a town this size, and I understand people are upset. I think the city can do more to manage that more efficiently. The Archipelago project, I think when we finish decking that area over, that’s going to be an asset just in terms of space to put that sheer number of people. I think it’s probably a good idea to take a look at our waterfront plan, some of our plans that deal with the areas most impacted by tourism. They’re outdated. Look at them, how we can better manage the tourists we already have here.

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  • Areawide Assembly

    • Carole Triem

      Candidate for Areawide Assembly

      I think this summer we’ve reached a tipping point with our community and what we’re willing to tolerate. So, I think we need to be working on that more. I’m really disappointed about the results of the subport lot bid. I was hoping we could get control of that so we could maintain our own local control of our waterfront. But we also need to update our Long Range Waterfront Plan, which is almost old enough to vote by itself. So, we need to be spending city time and city resources on that problem.

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