Alaska Railroad showcases plans for Wasilla

WASILLA -- The Alaska Railroad Corp. has big plans for the city of Wasilla in 2004.

Among the issues discussed at the Alaska Railroad Corp.'s special open house at the Lake Lucille Inn on Tuesday were the planned Wasilla Track Realignment and Wasilla Intermodal Planning project. The former of these projects is currently nearing construction readiness, while the latter is still in the planning stages and has no predicted completion date.

The Wasilla Track Realignment plans to straighten railroad tracks near the Seward-Meridian Parkway to help prevent derailments on dangerous curves, as well as allowing trains to move more quickly and smoothly. The railroad has already received funding for this project, and hopes to begin construction, if conditions remain favorable, sometime in 2005 or 2006.

The second, more preliminary Intermodal Planning project intends to relocate the railroad tracks outside of downtown Wasilla, possibly transferring the rail from the north to the south side of Lake Lucille. This project is being planned in reaction to the city of Wasilla's recent growth and expansion; a railroad track running through the center of downtown Wasilla could impede the city's development.

"We feel we need to go around Wasilla," said Bruce Carr, director of strategic planning for the railroad. "It's probably time for us to get out."

The railroad plans to purchase a 300-foot corridor of land to accommodate this project, provided it can acquire funding and come to a satisfactory agreement with the city of Wasilla and the public.

Any change of the track's current location is bound to affect Wasilla homeowners in the Knik-Goose Bay and Lake Lucille areas.

"It's going to be a tough choice for the community," admitted Carr. "It was contentious three years ago and it'll be contentious three months from now."

A hot issue is the amount of noise generated by trains blowing their whistles at road crossings, an activity stipulated by law. Currently, there are 11 road crossings in the rail area. Carr states that the corporation hopes to reduce this number to five or fewer road crossings.

"We're concerned about this since we're right on Knik Road," said Elmer Feltz, president of the board of directors at the Wasilla Senior Center. "I don't see any threat by what they're showing us here, but you never know."

The railroad has planned public works sessions for this spring (dates to be announced) in order to receive feedback from locals. "We want the community to help us decide," said Carr, who believes that the decision for the realignment must be made with care. "It's got to be in a place that meets the needs of the community and meets the needs of the railroad."

Railroad officials emphasized that the Intermodal Planning project is still in the preliminary stages and nothing has been set in stone yet. "All we're doing now is planning and trying to get public input," said Carr. Brett Flint, another railroad spokesman, also commented: "We're a long way from even being on the same page."

The railroad is also planning a Commuter Rail Study to investigate the possibility of running commuter trains between Anchorage and the Valley. Though the corporation itself will not be operating these trains, there is a possibility that a separate transit authority might operate the service using Alaska rail. This project is still in the planning stages as well; the railroad is investigating possible sites for stations and tracks.

"The community has expressed a lot of interest in commuter rail," Carr said, noting that a commuter advocacy group has been formed in Anchorage.

The railroad is also actively pursuing projects to straighten the tracks leading from Anchorage to Wasilla (thus reducing transit time between the two locations from 90 minutes to 58 minutes), reinforce and replace aging railroad bridges, replace worn joints and ties, and perform multiple improvements to stations around the Anchorage area.