Haines Borough assembly prioritizes Lutak Road beyond ferry terminal in comments to state STIP

The Haines Borough Assembly’s committee of the whole on March 24 agreed to prioritize improvements to Lutak Road beyond the ferry terminal and to ask staff to include Piedad Road and the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Union Street in comments to the state’s Southeast Transportation Improvement Plan, the assembly chair said.

The decision came after members and residents discussed emergency access risks in growing neighborhoods, maintenance and ownership questions for several routes, and safety needs for recreational users. The chair said the assembly will draft a letter to the Alaska Department of Transportation (DOT) outlining those priorities for the STIP.

Why it matters: Lutak Road past the ferry terminal serves both local residents and a growing number of commercial tour operators, bike and e‑bike tours, and other recreational users. Assembly members said adding shoulder space and other safety improvements there would reduce conflicts between large vehicles and people on bicycles and foot.

Gabe, an assembly participant who raised safety concerns for uptown subdivisions, described the current access situation as urgent: "We have a sticking time bomb up there right now with more and more housing we're shoving up there, and we have 1 entrance and exit," he said, arguing for secondary egress options to avoid isolating residents during a slide or fire.

Brad Jensen, who the chair invited to advise the assembly on road conditions, described maintenance and cost realities for several routes. On Chilkat Lake Road — which the chair said state parks, not DOT, currently owns — Jensen said resurfacing in gravel would be expensive: "somewhere just less than half $1,000,000," he said, adding that large stabilization work on switchbacks could raise costs further.

The chair reported a planner’s guidance that a legislative transfer would likely be required to move a park-owned segment into DOT jurisdiction, and warned DOT is unlikely to fund roads classified as park property without such a transfer. "The length of that road starting at Mudbay is owned by parks. It's not owned by DOT," the chair said.

Public commenter Barbara Nettleton urged the assembly to emphasize Lutak Road’s safety needs, noting the corridor’s commercial and recreational use: "I definitely think that Lutak Road beyond the ferry terminal to have a shoulder for the recreational use that comes out here," she said, and added that Piedad Road needs a second access for emergency purposes.

Other issues raised included the deteriorating chip seal on Choquette Lake Road, where Jensen recommended considering returning to an aggregate surface because the thin chip seal repeatedly breaks up, and Sawmill Creek culvert work the state is performing to reduce highway flooding. Participants also noted that Main Street is largely within state right-of-way, which complicates downtown improvements and signage.

What the assembly directed: the chair said the body will make Lutak Road beyond the ferry terminal its top STIP priority and will include Piedad Road and the 2nd Avenue–Union intersection as areas of special concern; staff will prepare and send a letter to DOT reflecting those priorities. The meeting then recessed for a 30-minute break.

The assembly did not record a formal vote on these priorities during the committee session; the action was presented as the chair's direction and accepted without objection in the discussion.