By SHANNON HAUGLAND
and GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writers
The Alaska Marine Highway System proposed limited service to routes in and out of Sitka, in a draft schedule released today.
The schedule from May through September shows one northbound and one southbound ferry in the first and third weeks of every month, and two southbound ferries the second and fourth weeks of the month.
That’s a total of two northbound ferries to Juneau per month and six southbound ferries to Ketchikan, with stops in Petersburg and Wrangell.
As proposed, the summer schedule will involve Monday and Tuesday sailings.
Deputy Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz said he was not particularly surprised by the proposed plan.
“I feel that schedule is not surprising due not only to budget cuts but the fact that Sitka has been forgotten in ferry service the past few years,” he said today. “It’s unfortunate for independent travelers who might want to come to Sitka in an RV. Now they won’t have an opportunity to do such. ... I think the ferry service is on a fast track to disappearing.”
Assembly member Valorie Nelson was also disappointed but not surprised.
Nelson told about a conversation she overheard Monday night by two passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight south from Anchorage. The men were headed to Juneau for the opening of the legislative session. (Nelson was returning to Sitka from a trip to Kodiak.)
As related by Nelson, one of the men commented to his seatmate, either joking or not, “As soon as we sink the ferries, we’ll have a lot more money for roads.”
Not wanting to hear any more of the conversation, Nelson started watching a movie. She said the conversation reinforced her feelings that people from the Railbelt “don’t give a rat’s ... ” about the ferry service.
“They just want money for themselves,” she said. “Given the mentality I witnessed, it’s not surprising (the ferry service has been cut). They’re trying to kill our communities.”
The schedule is available and open for comments at dot.amhs.comments@alaska.gov.
