Port Mac rail extension work continues this summer

HOUSTON — With another $25 million in hand from the state’s capital budget, the Mat-Su Borough intends to resume work this summer on its rail link to Port MacKenzie.

Toward that end, the borough had a meeting last week at Houston Middle School.

“It was an upbeat meeting, many want economic development and see the railroad link to the port as bringing it,” Borough Public Affairs Director Patty Sullivan wrote in an email.

She said trail users in the area showed up to voice approval of the railroad’s incorporation of their ideas.

Sullivan said initial designs had trails intersecting the railroad at 90-degree angles. New designs, Sullivan said, quoting Iditarod legend Martin Buser and his neighbor Bob Jones, allow for more gradual, turns easier for sled dog teams to navigate.

“The Railroad listened. It’s really good. They made a lot of changes,” Jones said in Sullivan’s press release. “It’s easier to snowmachine than before.”

The borough is also selling firewood from the land it’s clearing, preparing 4,000 cords for sale. More information is available at matsugov.us in the Community Development section or by contacting borough resource specialist Ray Nix at 745-9863 or raymond.nix@matsugov.us.

As for what work is set for this summer, the borough is working on three segments of the six-segment project and plans to start on a fourth segment late in the summer:

• Segment 1: The first five miles starting at the port. The earthmoving is complete, and this summer will be spent building the embankment for the rails to sit on.

• Segment 6: This 1.8-mile portion includes the connection with the railroad’s mainline near Houston. The connection allows trails to head to the port from Anchorage or Fairbanks.

• Segment 3: The borough’s contractor has already started taking down trees for this segment, which is 6.5 miles long and runs from Ayrshire Road to Papoose Twins Road.

• Segment 4: This is the one not yet under construction. It runs 7.4 miles from Papoose Twins Road to just past Horseshoe Lake.

So far, the borough has secured $141 million from the state, $30 million of that in state bonds. Funding has come in each of the project’s six years. This year’s $25 million infusion is on par with past appropriations. The total project cost, according to the project website, is estimated at $300 million.

The rail line will stretch 32 miles from the mainline to the port, where it will end in a loop allowing trains to stage for loading and unloading and turn around to head back out.

The idea is to both bolster growth at the borough’s port and open up resources in the Interior to development, the borough says. Reduced shipping costs, project backers say, will make things like limestone and various metals more economical to produce.

The project is not without its detractors, though, including a coalition of activist groups that are fighting to stop the project in court. The borough has won most of the legal skirmishes there, but has not yet prevailed in either of two pending lawsuits.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.