A plan to extend Juneau’s downtown waterfront, also known as the boardwalk, hit a major hurdle earlier this week.

The city has long planned to develop a continuous, mile and a half long road from Douglas Bridge to AJ Dock. It is the furthest cruise ship pier from downtown. The city has been developing the boardwalk in sections over the years, and this new section will stretch a quarter of a mile south towards Thane.

Alix Pierce, the city’s director of tourism, unveiled the project in May. She said it will make Juneau more welcoming — and accessible — to tourists.

“We would have to get further into the design process to get a more accurate estimate, but we can assume it’s a $20 million to $25 million project,” she said.

But the project can’t move forward unless the city can negotiate a land swap deal with the private owners of Franklin Dock — where the boardwalk currently ends.

The city would essentially trade a small piece of city-owned land near the Franklin Dock, called the National Guard Dock, in exchange for a land easement and a tidal land lease. On Monday, Juneau Parish voted to let the city manager start these negotiations.

Right now the AJ dock is isolated from the rest of the ships. Tourists coming from ships there have to go into town or walk about 10 minutes through an industrial area to get there. The extension will allow them to go directly to Juneau along the water. But many residents also use the promenade – whether it’s to walk their dogs or simply sit on a bench to look out over the canal.

Karla Hart, a longtime activist against the growth of tourism in Juneau, said local residents should have more of a say in how this project moves forward. She told us about it at the meeting on Monday.

“There is no general urgency, and delaying this will not impair the existing use and scale of the cruise industry. Rushing it will have unknown consequences,” she said.

She asked the congregation to table the proceedings to gather more input.

The city already has close to $6 million set aside for the project from marine passenger fees. The parish will have to decide how to pay for the rest, but passenger charges are likely to pay for most of it.

The council will still need to give the final stamp of approval on the negotiated land swap before anything can move forward. The city will also have to work out a deal for a land easement with Petro Marine, another landowner in the area, and go through a permitting process.