Juneau’s cruise-ship stage overhaul near complete

JUNEAU, Alaska — A $3 million overhaul of the staging area for Juneau’s cruise ship docks is nearly complete and should be ready when the season begins in early May.

The year’s first ship will arrive May 5, with private arrivals coming a few days earlier, the Juneau Empire reported.

The $3 million cruise-ship terminal staging area project reconfigured parking, sidewalks and crosswalks near the two city-owned docks for cruise ships to improve maneuverability for tour buses and safety for tourists. Construction on the project began last fall, a week after the last cruise ship left town.

The improvements are aimed to streamline the cruise-ship unloading process and keep visitors safe. A few close calls over the years — and one incident several years ago when a tourist was hit by a car after stepping off the sidewalk — prompted a reconfiguration of the area.

There is currently a pull-through system for bus pickup of cruise-ship passengers. The new configuration of the parking lot will allow buses to nose into the lot diagonally, CBJ port engineer Erich Schaal said. A secondary lot for smaller tour vehicles will allow for pull-through pickup.

The main lot, which will be able to hold 12 of the full-size buses, will butt up against a walkway where cruise-ship passengers can hang out before loading onto the vehicles. This setup is industry standard these days, Schaal said, and it keeps passengers out of the parking lot, improving the safety of the operation.

“We’re trying to get pedestrians into safe facilities,” he said.

Two-thirds of cruise-ship passengers go through the staging area that is being worked on, Schaal said.

But with changes to the staging area came concerns from Juneau’s tourism industry about equitability, Schaal said. Smaller tour companies worried the new parking configuration would edge them out of the area altogether. Dock and Harbors worked closely with local businesses, through Juneau’s Tourism Best Management Practices group, to find a compromise.

Kirby Day, director of shore operations for Princess Cruises and organizer of Tourism Best Management Practices, acted as a go-between for the approximately 60 local companies in talks with Docks and Harbors on the project. The amount of available space, with the staging area essentially squeezed between the mountain and the ocean, was limiting when it came to addressing the worries of tourism companies, Day said.

“We have a very finite amount of space, so we don’t have the amount of space where you can do something perfect that makes every individual operator and user happy,” he said. “So we all kind of got together and decided well, if everybody’s just a little bit unhappy, we’ve accomplished the goal.”

Independent tour companies — ones that aren’t owned by a cruise company — were the most nervous, he said. But the changes to parking will bring the space up to industry standard and improve the flow of traffic downtown “like at the AJ dock and Princess dock.”

Construction on two new $54 million cruise ship berths, capable of accommodating today’s larger, 1,000-foot vessels, will begin in fall 2015. Currently, the two city-owned cruise ship berths cannot accommodate ships larger than 965 feet and 780 feet in length.

The private AJ and Princess docks can already accommodate larger vessels, Day said.

The staging-area project will complete work that has been going on at the site for several years. A city-owned visitor center was built at the site two years ago, and the seawalk was connected to create a continuous path along the water. The entirety of the construction, including the $3 million staging project being completed now and the new cruise ship berths, will cost about $70 million.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

The Washington State University Snohomish County Extension building at McCollum Park is located in an area Snohomish County is considering for the location of the Farm and Food Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Year-round indoor farmers market inches closer to reality near Mill Creek

The Snohomish County Farm and Food Center received $5 million in federal funding. The county hopes to begin building in 2026.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.