Editing Juneau, Alaska (section)

===Roads===
[[Avalanche]] hazards, steep slopes, cold weather and environmental protection concerns are factors that make road construction and maintenance both difficult and costly.

The [[Juneau-Douglas Bridge]] connects the Juneau mainland with [[Douglas Island]].

No roads connect Juneau to the rest of North America; ferries allow access to the road network. There is a lack of places to build a road. A route to the east would fail due to an icefield the size of [[Rhode Island]] separating Juneau from [[Atlin, British Columbia]]. Similarly, the route up the [[Taku River]] is blocked by ever-shifting glaciers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ferry |first=Emily |date=December 20, 2016 |title=Road to No Road |url=https://www.seacc.org/road-to-no-road/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |website=Southeast Alaska Conservation Council |language=en-US}}</ref> Juneau is one of only four state capitals not served by an [[Interstate highway]] (the others being [[Dover, Delaware]]; [[Jefferson City, Missouri]]; and [[Pierre, South Dakota]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/data/page07.cfm |title=The Dwight D. Eisenhower System of Interstate and Defense Highways - Part VII - Miscellaneous Interstate Facts |publisher=Federal Highway Administration |access-date=June 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716025219/https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/highwayhistory/data/page07.cfm |archive-date=July 16, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

====Juneau Access Project====
{{See also|Lynn Canal Highway}}
Juneau's roads remain separate from other roads in Alaska and in the [[Lower 48]]. In the past there have been plans to connect Juneau to [[Haines, Alaska|Haines]] and [[Skagway]] by road since before 1972, with funding for the first feasibility study acquired in 1987.{{r|Kleeschulte}} The State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities announced in 2005 that the connection was to be provided partly by road, and partly by fast ferry. A {{convert|51|mi|km|adj=on}} road would be built on the east side of [[Lynn Canal]] to a new ferry terminal at the Katzehin River estuary.<ref name="tab">{{cite news |title=Tab for Alaska road: $445 million |work=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |date=July 10, 2009 |first=Joel |last=Connelly |url=http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/173475.asp |access-date=July 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715110507/http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/173475.asp |archive-date=July 15, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> A ferry would be able to transport cars from the terminal to Haines and Skagway and the North American road system.<ref name="tab" /> In 2006, the project was estimated to cost $258 million, and in 2007, the estimate was increased to $350 million.<ref name="tab" /> Annual costs have been estimated from $2.1 million to $12 million, depending on the length of the road.{{r|Kleeschulte}} The Western Federal Lands Center estimated the project would cost $491 million.<ref name="tab" />

Local opinions on constructing a road link to the outside world were mixed. Some residents saw such a road as a much-needed link between Juneau and the rest of the world which will also provide great economic benefits to the city, while many other residents were concerned about the project's financial costs along with environmental and social impacts it could have on Lynn Canal.<ref name="SierraClub">[http://alaska.sierraclub.org/issues/clean-energy/juneau-road.html Juneau's Road to Ruin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723105203/http://alaska.sierraclub.org/issues/clean-energy/juneau-road.html |date=July 23, 2011}}, [[Sierra Club]] Alaska Chapter.</ref>

Citing the state's multibillion-dollar financial crisis, Governor [[Bill Walker (American politician)|Bill Walker]] announced on December 15, 2016, that the state is no longer backing construction of the Juneau Access Improvements Project.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gov. Walker abandons Juneau access road 15 December 2016 |url=http://www.alaskapublic.org/2016/12/15/walker-abandons-juneau-access-road/ |website=Alaska public media |date=December 16, 2016 |access-date=February 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203161039/http://www.alaskapublic.org/2016/12/15/walker-abandons-juneau-access-road/ |archive-date=February 3, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Eventually the project lost its steam and was ended in July 2018 with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) releasing their Record of Decision, selecting the no-build alternative for the Juneau Access Project, halting construction on the road.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roads To Nowhere |url=https://www.seacc.org/tongass/roads-to-nowhere/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |website=Southeast Alaska Conservation Council |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=SEIS - Juneau Access Improvements Project {{!}} Permitting Dashboard |url=https://www.permits.performance.gov/permitting-projects/seis-juneau-access-improvements-project |access-date=April 30, 2023 |website=www.permits.performance.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Juneau Access, Southcoast Region, Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, State of Alaska |url=https://dot.alaska.gov/sereg/projects/juneau_access/ |access-date=April 30, 2023 |website=dot.alaska.gov}}</ref>