Houston may be ahead for rail route

HOUSTON — Some city council members here are pleased a rail extension route to Port MacKenzie highlighted by a project planning document runs right through the Houston/Big Lake area.

Mayor Steve Frost said an upcoming city council work session 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3 may result in a draft resolution supporting that route — one he said he hopes council will approve when it meets Dec. 13.

Monday’s meeting will be to discuss capital improvement projects and the proposed route, which runs tracks near Horseshoe Lake and other lakes and travels through a largely undeveloped area, Frost said.

The Borough Assembly will hold a workshop examining the planning matrix and proposed routes at 3 p.m. Dec. 11 in the Borough Assembly Chambers in Palmer.

Federal agencies recently weighed in with concerns about the rail routes, especially a longer route from Willow, which would heavily impact trails and wetlands. Environmental and wildlife experts warned the railroad and Borough to avoid damaging wetlands and spend the extra cash to properly build a rail corridor that should serve the state for generations.

Frost said the Houston line is a lower-cost route than others, so as far as environmental and other mitigation he hopes “a little extra money to do that probably won’t be an issue.”

The $300 million extension project’s findings are due for submission soon to the federal Surface Transportation Board. That panel will conduct another round of public studies through 2008 before choosing a final route and a list of qualified contractors for a bid process. That decision isn’t expected until mid-2009.

Rail spur lines starting in Houston, Willow and Big Lake are all on the table, but a planning matrix presented to the Borough Assembly recently studies eight possible configurations and ranked them by cost and potential environmental and other impacts.

The lowest-cost alternative is the Mac West Houston South route, which is estimated to cost $220 million to build. The planning chart indicates soils along the route are good, there is little impact to road crossings, land is available and there would be a neutral impact on fish streams. While the route is not seen as one that would fragment designated refuges or recreation areas, there is a potential impact on wetlands, but less chance of significant archaeological sites being impacted.

The other Houston approaches have $230 million and $290 million price tags. Starting the rail in Willow, where the community council and many residents actively oppose the route, is estimated to cost $320 million, $20 million more than the current construction estimate in 2007 dollars. Those estimates also don’t include an extra $10 million for track at Port MacKenzie.

Borough spokeswoman Patty Sullivan, the point person for the rail extension project, said no route has been chosen and the ultimate decision is up to the government.

The matrix was designed after many meetings among experts and consultants hired by the Borough and Alaska Railroad Corp. The process has consumed about $1 million of a $10 million state grant allocated for environmental studies of the new spur line.

The Houston City Council meets at 7 p.m. Dec. 13. The agenda for that meeting is not set. The Dec. 3 council work session on capital improvements and the proposed rail route begins at 5 p.m. Both meetings are in Houston City Hall’s Council Chambers, 13965 Armstrong Road.

Contact John R. Moses at john.moses-@frontiersman.com or call 352-2270.