South Mitkof Island Ferry Terminal: New Routes for Southeast Alaska

The South Mitkof Island Ferry Terminal was developed to serve two new ferry routes in Southeast Alaska: 1) An Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) Ketchikan Shuttle (Ketchikan to Mitkof Island) with continuing ferry service from the Petersburg terminal to the hub at Juneau and 2) The Inter-Island Ferry Authority (IFA) shuttle ferry between Prince of Wales Island, Wrangell, and Mitkof Island. The primary drivers for the new terminal were to reduce system costs, improve service, and develop greater connectivity in the service area. For a sustained period of years the Alaska Legislature has, through various means, conveyed to the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) a consistent determination to reduce the annual General Fund subsidy essential to operating the system. In addition, the public and communities served by AMHS desire a regional transportation system that is more flexible, frequent in service, efficient, reliable, convenient, and stable. Providing meaningful service improvements and cost reductions requires that AMHS revise its operations as outlined in the Southeast Alaska Transportation Plan (SATP). A key element of the SATP is the development of new ferry terminals, including the South Mitkof Island Ferry Terminal. The SATP also has identified a need for greater connectivity and the development of local ferry service. In response, IFA is now expanding its operations to the north end of Prince of Wales Island with a new ferry, a new terminal at Coffman Cove, and service to a terminal at the south end of Mitkof Island. This paper discusses the general process used to examine the potential terminal sites on the southern end of Mitkof Island, presents engineering, environmental and operational screening criteria employed, summarizes the decision process, and describes the final design of the new terminal.