DOT, CBJ and consultants wrap up Planning and Environmental Linkage study for Juneau's Juno-Douglas North Crossing

Christopher Goins, South Coast regional director for the Alaska Department of Transportation, told the Assembly Committee of the Whole on July 14 that DOT has submitted a final Planning and Environmental Linkage (PEL) study for the Juno-Douglas North Crossing to DOT headquarters and plans to move into the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) phase within weeks.

The PEL process was used to narrow a wide set of possible crossing options into a smaller group of alternatives to be evaluated in NEPA, DOT and CBJ representatives said. "We decided to go forward with a new process called the Planning Environmental Linkage Study" to reduce the number of alternatives before NEPA, Goins said.

The PEL was presented by Steve Noble, senior project manager with Dowell Engineering, who said the work began in spring 2022 and included intensive public engagement. "This has been probably the project that's had the most public involvement of any project I've participated in in the last 30 years," Noble said, noting seven advisory committee meetings, three open houses and multiple pop-up events. He said the PEL team received more than 600 comments on the final…