Juneau International Airport officials have reiterated their opposition to a technology suggested by the Federal Aviation Administration to improve Juneau's runway-end safety areas.

In anticipation of soldiers from the Juneau-based Army National Guard unit coming home from service in Iraq early next year, about 70 spouses attended special training last weekend in Anchorage to help make the return easier.

The state's preferred solution for easing congestion near the Douglas Bridge would divert some traffic from Egan Drive to Glacier Avenue and convert portions of those streets into one-way zones.

Juneau International Airport officials say state law allows the airport to acquire land within the Mendenhall Wetlands State Game Refuge for expansion, such as the runway safety project now proposed.

Several years ago a commercial jet flying above Juneau hit turbulence so severe it knocked the aircraft on its side. "It was bumped up so the wings were vertical instead of horizontal," said Al Yates, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR. "That's pretty darn severe."

The state's preferred solution for easing congestion near the Douglas Bridge would divert some traffic from Egan Drive to Glacier Avenue and convert portions of those streets into one-way zones.