Construction on a new set of breakwaters at Banana Point wrapped up on Aug. 7. Petersburg Public Works Director Aaron Marohl said the project will improve safety at the boat launch, which is about 25 miles south of town.
“This will create a safer boat ramp for both the water taxis and our sporting teams that go back and forth between here and Wrangell,” he said.
Banana Point is an important transportation hub between Petersburg and other communities. The boat launch was originally built by the state, but state maintenance in the area ended years ago.
Marohl said the anchors that held the seven booms in the water had been rusting and falling apart.
“Over the last several years, several of the booms floated off,” he said.”By the end of last winter, the final one finally broke free of its anchor system, and we had four of them tied to the beach in various locations.”
In 2024, the borough received a $900,000 grant for the breakwaters from the Denali Commission, a federal organization that helps support projects in rural Alaska. However, the lowest bid the borough received for the project was $78,000 higher.
Petersburg’s tribal government, Petersburg Indian Association, stepped in to cover the difference.
Marohl said the new breakwaters would be especially helpful for subsistence and commercial fishermen in the wintertime.
“They’ll be able to use the ramp during inclement weather,” he said.
