In 2018 I came to the assembly with a proposal for bus traffic going to the Fraser Railroad siding to be deferred to 11th Street, instead of Spring Street. Spring Street is from 9th to10th Streets the narrowest in Skagway by 10 feet. The 40-50 foot buses are treating Spring Street as a one way road. The stop sign before 10th and Spring Street is violated every day.

If nothing is done, that will be a total of five years with no action. That is kicking the can down the road on steroids. This represents a huge liability to the city that is not being addressed.

Spring Street is very dangerous for all concerned. Eleventh and Broadway should be used for all of the traffic to the Fraser siding. When I originally brought this up in 2018, Monica Carlson was our mayor. At that time, there was a consensus from the assembly and Monica to divert the bus traffic off Spring Street and onto 11th and Broadway for the Fraser siding. 

This requires some follow through from the previous proposal that the 2018 assembly agreed to. This is a hard thing to say, but it needs to be said. Monica and her mother were killed by a bus driver that wasn’t paying attention. I only hope that doesn’ happen here. None of us want that on our conscience. If there are no rules put in place and enforced, it’s just a matter of time. 

If the big buses are on 11th and Broadway to get to their parking, they will not run a stop sign on a two way street such as 11th and Broadway. Coming off State Street they can drive straight to their parking spots on 11th and exit on 12th.

Currently, the big buses coming up from the north end of town drive right past 11th and 12th, down to 7th to City Hall, and then up Spring Street and past 10th to their parking spots on the Frasier siding. That is 10 blocks out of the way when they would only have to turn on 11th the one block, and exit on 12th one block.

One thing that seems to be forgotten is that the streets of Skagway belong to the citizens of Skagway and not the bus companies to do whatever they want. It’s the city’s obligation to tell the bus companies how and where they are going to operate on our streets.

This issue requires action by the Public Safety Committee and also the assembly and enforcement thereof. Putting a sidewalk on Spring Street won’t fix this problem but removing the buses to 11th and 12th will.

I sent this letter to the assembly on Sept. 5, 2019 and again on April 28, 2022 without any response or action taken on this issue. This letter is a revised version of my original letter.

Yours sincerely,

Craig Weidner,

Concerned Citizen of Skagway