A project to extend downtown Juneau’s waterfront walking path, also known as the Seaside Promenade, cleared a major hurdle earlier this week.

The city has long planned develop a one and a half mile long continuous path between the Douglas Bridge and the AJ Wharf. This is the cruise ship dock furthest from the city center. The city has developed the sea promenade in sections over the years, and this new section will extend a quarter of a mile south towards Thane.

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

“We would need to move further into the design process to have a more accurate estimate, but we can assume this is a $20 million to $25 million project,” she said .

But the project can only move forward if the city can negotiate a land exchange agreement with the private owners of Franklin Dock, where the promenade 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 tidal lease. On Monday, the Juneau Assembly voted to let the city manager begin these negotiations.

Currently, the AJ dock is isolated from the rest of the ships. Tourists disembarking from ships must commute into town or walk about 10 minutes through an industrial area to get there. The extension will allow them to walk directly to Juneau along the water’s edge. But many residents also use the promenade, whether walking their dogs or simply sitting on a bench watching the canal.

Karla Hart, a longtime activist against tourism growth in Juneau, said residents should have more say in how this project moves forward. She spoke about it at Monday’s meeting.

“There is no public emergency, and delaying this will not harm the current usage and scale of the cruise industry.” Rushing will have unknown consequences,” she said.

She asked the Assembly to postpone negotiations to gather more comments.

The city already has nearly $6 million set aside for the project from maritime passenger transportation fees. The Assembly will have to figure out how to pay for the rest, but passenger fees will likely cover most of it.

The Assembly will still need to give final approval to the negotiated land swap before anything can move forward. The city will also have to enter into an agreement for a land easement with Petro Marine, another landowner in the area, and go through a permitting process.