Editor's note: This story was originally published by Brian Venua at KTOO and is republished here with permission.
The Alaska Marine Highway System will finally receive $410 million in federal grant money, according to federal and state officials at a press conference held in Anchorage on Friday.
The money is from ferry grants that were delayed from last year and appropriated from the Biden-era Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021.
“Until you have it, you don’t have it,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski. “And that’s where we were sitting last year, right? That’s why there was a great deal of anxiety about whether or not we would be able to count on the grants coming forward at all.”
The senator added that the funding is about 60% of the rural ferry funds being distributed across the entire country. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is scheduled to expire at the end of September.
Lolanda Cavanaugh is the mayor of Kake, a Southeast community that relies on ferries and small aircraft for transportation. More than $33 million of the funding will go towards modernizing the Kake ferry terminal, according to apress releasefrom Gov. Dunleavy’s office.
Cavanaugh said investing in the Alaska marine highway shows a huge commitment to helping small communities.
“The Alaska Marine Highway System is our lifeline,” she said at the conference remotely. “It’s our highway that connects us to essential medical care, school and sports travel, vehicle repairs, and the supplies and services our community depends on.”
Alaska has largely relied on federal funding to maintain and operate its ferry system in recent years.
Money from the federal grant will also go toward replacing the M/V LeConte, the Cascade Point Ferry Terminal in Juneau, expanding the Saxman Seaport in Ketchikan and upgrading customer service operations.
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