Rail clears another hurdle

KNIK - The project to bring rail service to Port MacKenzie has passed another federal regulatory milestone.

According to a Mat-Su Borough press release issued Wednesday, the federal Surface Transportation Board has decided to give the project the green light.

“The decision is an important step in clearing the way for construction to begin on a 32-mile link from the mainline of the Alaska Railroad near Houston to Port MacKenzie,” according to the press release.

The project has been ongoing since 2007. The borough has long touted it as the best way to make the port viable as a place to export resources from the state’s interior to global markets. Resources mentioned include limestone, metal ore and coal.

So far, the borough has mostly done work on the port end, putting in the bed for the rail loop on that end that will be able to hold 100 rail cars and allow them to turn around and head back up the line.

In December, though, the borough will put out to bid its first contract for constructing the bed to hold part of the rail line, rather than the loop. The contract will put in five miles of embankment. A second contract, slated to go out to bid in February, would put in six more miles of embankment.

That will get the borough to the end of its most recent infusion of state cash for the project.

“The borough is requesting $60 million in state appropriations” in the budget the Legislature will start putting together when it convenes at the start of the year, the release says. “This new funding and funding to date would complete two-thirds of the entire rail embankment.”

U.S. Sen. Mark Begich weighed in on the STB’s decision.

“This project will provide hundreds of sorely-needed jobs to Alaskans, and I am pleased to see it moving forward,” the senator says in the borough press release. “I am delighted to see that the STB approved this project. Investing in infrastructure is important as we continue to look for ways to stabilize our economy and put Alaskans to work.”

The project will be discussed at an Alaska Railroad Corp. open house scheduled for 4 to 6:30 p.m., Jan. 18 at Evangelo’s Restaurant.

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