Juneau holds another successful junked car drive
Published Wednesday, May 7, 2008
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Stumble It!JUNEAU -- Bill Nelson drove his 1992 Ford Econoline van into the Channel Construction parking lot Tuesday morning, left the key in the ignition and walked away.
With a slipping transmission and oil dripping into the cylinders, the 1-ton van wasn't worth fixing. Instead, Nelson junked the huge van at the twice-yearly event to rid the city of broken down personal vehicles.
With some life still in it, the Ford van was scooped up and thrown into a mixed pile of 197 other makes and models, including a vintage Saab 93fs - all destined to be smashed flat by a Volvo end loader.
"It breaks my heart," Nelson said. "It was a good truck."
Early Monday morning, tow trucks and flatbeds drove up to the Channel Construction gate, dropped their heaps and went back out for more. Trucks started lining up 30 minutes early, Channel employee Glory Tonsgard said.
"It's a popular event," said Judy Harvey, manager of the city's junk vehicle program. "It's nice to clean up Juneau."
With nearly half the available free spots gone, Tonsgard said the program could end soon.
This week, citizens can toss out unwanted cars, trucks, vans, motor homes, motorcycles and trailers for free. The rest of the year, vehicle disposal costs run into the hundreds.
For years, Juneau's jalopies were disposed of during two-day marathons of stacking, stripping, draining, smashing and restacking for shipment to Seattle. This year, the program switched to a weeklong operation to reduce the daily workload, Harvey said.
"We could do another 200 today," Tonsgard said.
Excel Towing dropped about 100 cars and trucks at the Anka Street site Monday at no charge to the owner. Excel owner Stan Lee said senior citizens called to have junk vehicles taken away.
"We offer it to the community for free," Lee said.
Magnetic signs and donated radio time advertised the free towing service.
Items deemed salvageable are stripped before the cars and trucks are delivered to the Channel Construction site. Salvaged parts offset some of the costs, Lee said.
"A lot of people would not be able to afford towing otherwise," Lee said.
When the 400-car threshold is met, the free disposal program ends. The total program budget for 2007-08 was $417,000. It was paid for largely by a motor vehicle tax and an $180,000 city appropriation.
Harvey said the program needed extra money to hold a second junk car event this year. The city expects to spend $170,000 for the spring's Channel Construction contract to remove 400 cars and trucks, she said.
Juneau police spokesman David Campbell said the junk vehicle program has reduced the numbers of abandoned and junk vehicles that community service officers deal with on a yearly basis.
Given the alternative fines for vehicles found or determined to be abandoned, the residential program is a great deal when it comes to removing vehicles, Campbell said. Get the car or truck to the site and you're done, he said.
"It's a significant citation," Campbell said.
Community Discussion
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PLEASE tell me someone saved the Saab 93's!!!! I will need parts!
I am a proud SAAB owner.
Those who trash any SAAB's must be abducted by aliens and transported away.........forever.
I SO agree. I have had three (900, 900 Turbo {86 was a GREAT year for turbo} & a 1970 Saab 96 'project' car).
Saab power!
Ah... we don't want to hear your Saab stories. :P
That was funny preston
Saab!?! The only thing worse I could envision owning would be a Peuogot. LOL! That being said, I lived in Juneau for a number of years. There is no junkyard for private disposal of cars. The most popular solution while I lived there was to drive, or drag, your S**tmobile to the far back of the K-Mart parking lot, take off the plates, and abandon it.
I own 2 Saabs. A newer one and a 1969. They are wonderful and I am proud!!! It does break my heart too, to know it was smashed!
Bog....
I think a Renault Le-Car is worse - my mother had one when I was a kid and boy were we living in high cotton - - it was a convertible!
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