Alaska's transport department has let a contractor start moving equipment and materials to the site of the planned Cascade Point ferry terminal north of Juneau, prompting critics to accuse the outgoing Dunleavy administration of rushing the project, KTOO reports. The department said Sitka-based K&E Alaska was told in mid-October it could mobilise, though actual construction has not yet been authorised.
The step followed a US Army Corps of Engineers finding that the first, upland stage of the work would not touch federally regulated waters. The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council sent a cease and desist letter last week after seeing excavators on site. It argues the state is splitting the project into stages to get it started before a new governor takes office, without first securing the permits needed for the terminal itself.
Source: KTOO (Juneau)