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Resident warns Frasier depot and tour traffic are creating public-safety and health problems
Summary
A citizen correspondent told the Skagway Municipality Public Safety Committee that the Frasier depot and increased tour and cruise operations are overloading residential streets, creating diesel-exhaust and crowding harms and pointing to gaps in municipal review and code enforcement.
A resident correspondent identified as Sherry told the Skagway Public Safety Committee that relocating cruise- and tour-related operations to areas near housing has created a public-safety and environmental problem. "This is a terrible idea," she said of moving cruise-line agency operations to the Hamilton Hangar on Alaska Street, arguing the change funnels large, frequent vehicle and shuttle movements through dense residential blocks.
Sherry said the relocation and the presence of a Frasier depot have concentrated passenger loads and bus traffic in the most densely populated sections of Skagway, producing dust, diesel fumes and noise she described as seriously affecting residents. "Diesel exhaust is the most toxic exhaust imaginable," she said, adding that dust and fumes have compelled her to rinse surfaces and worry about contamination of local gardens.
The correspondent also alleged the Frasier depot was established without a public process and urged the municipality to review how it was approved. "This did not go through public process," she said, asking the committee to examine whether the depot’s placement serves the residential neighborhood’s interests.
Sherry recommended that municipal staff and council consider alternatives that keep cruise-line vehicle staging and ground-transport operations down at the waterfront and away from residential streets. She raised enforcement and code questions as well: the municipal code’s commercial-ground-transportation provisions, she argued, are out of date and omit modern categories such as rental-car vendors, ebikes and scooters.
Dan Henry, the committee chair, and other members acknowledged the seasonal math of increased visitors and buses but did not take immediate action during the meeting. No formal decision or vote was recorded on the depot or routing proposals; the committee continued discussion of residential parking and public-safety staffing later in the agenda.
Next steps: correspondents requested the municipality investigate the Frasier depot’s approvals and the potential impacts of concentrated tour and shuttle movements on residential streets. The committee did not set a date for a formal review during this session.
