Talkeetna, railroad seeking tourism compromise

May 11, 2007

By John R. Moses/Frontiersman

TALKEETNA - Alaska Railroad Corporation CEO Pat Gamble presented Talkeetna residents with some new ideas Monday and challenged them to act quickly and determine their future in the face of increasing tourism and the railroad's need to decide how much to invest there.

Gamble was accompanied by several high-ranking executives and brought a map proposing a street extension, a new year-round depot site and a new road on land bordering eastside tracks that better links a town bisected by the railroad's track.

Questions at the joint town council and chamber of commerce meeting ranged from traffic issues at a rural siding that this year will be used for offloading tourist buses, to weed control and the use of

herbicides.

The map showing proposed improvements was more of a wild card than anything else presented and was studied by several residents after the session. Gamble gave them a personal presentation of a proposed Main Street extension that would give East Talkeetna not only a new section of Main Street but two ways to drive in and out of the area.

Town council chair Ruth Wood, who convened the informal session, left the map in care of a council member and asked railroad officials to post it on the ARRC Web site. She said the issue would probably go before the council in June for discussion.

Details in the map haven't been presented to the borough, and Gamble said he needs to know whether improvements like that and an increase in tourism is what the area wants, and how the railroad can work with the community.

&#8220We've reached a point where Talkeetna is not just a wide spot in the road. You're part of our business,” said Gamble, who took mostly concise audience questions for most of an hour and 15 minutes.

Gamble cited proposed changes he thinks would be good for the town - like a new year-round depot site near the Mahay's fishing charter business. Main Street would be extended with a new crossing that the railroad would promise not to block at the same time as the other crossing. The existing crossing serves the East Talkeetna area, the state airport and the area's boat launches.

The railroad could be willing to spend some cash, he said, but has to know first that the town is behind the changes.

&#8220It's easy to say ‘no' - it's tough to say ‘yes' on something that involves a risk.”

Gamble urged the town to get past any resistance to change. The area is growing and the opening of a south entrance to Denali National Park and Preserve will bring even more visitors.

&#8220You're growing. Accept it or reject it,” Gamble said. &#8220But you can't have it both ways.”

&#8220This is the future of the area,” he said of national park expansion and a gradual increase in visitors. &#8220And it's a love/hate relationship with development.”

The problem the railroad has, he said, is how to act in concert with the town when conflicting signals are given about tourism and how to solve issues that concern

residents.

He cited the issue of how to seal East Woodpecker Avenue, the street that will see tour buses for the first time picking up tourists from a Whittier train and taking them into town or to Princess Tours' Denali Lodge. There is no clear consensus of whether a more formal type of paving should be applied or whether it should be sealed with a dust-diminishing coating of calcium carbonate.

One longtime resident seemed to take issue with Gamble's assessment of Talkeetna's willingness to address tourism.

&#8220We've been working very hard on impact issues here,” said Roberta Sheldon, whose late husband, Don Sheldon, occupies a pioneering role in Talkeetna's aviation history. She told Gamble to think of the elected town council as the go-to group for advice, as they are the only elected body representing Talkeetna.

She told Gamble not to minimize the town's efforts to cope with increased tourism demands over the past two decades. She noted that the planning document Talkeetna hammered out took eight years to write.

&#8220You probably won't have eight years to make a decision,” Gamble said, adding that the railroad &#8220may get a little pushy” and ask for quicker decisions.

After the meeting, Sheldon said she was hopeful. &#8220I think the railroad finally learned they have to work with us.”

Gamble said he thought the meeting - his sixth in Talkeetna - went well and a lot of information was shared on both sides. Due to recent issues like traffic on East Woodpecker and that area's expanding uses for rail maintenance and tourism he said he decided to bring along several executives to share as much information as possible. Representatives of Princess Tours were also there.

Answering specific audience concerns, Gamble said the railroad will crack down on speeding along, and will take care of dust control on East Woodpecker.

A Princess Tours executive said bus drivers are already at the lodge and are being trained on acceptable speeds and to turn off air conditioning units to eliminate additional dust from the blowers as well as dust coming into the buses from outside.

Gamble said there are no present plans for a hotel on the more than 200 acres of riverfront land the railroad owns near East Woodpecker's upgraded siding, but the area may see a new section house. That would move railroad maintenance crews out of downtown.

If a new station is built for off-season traffic, Gamble said it would include a comfortable area for patrons to wait, instead of the Spartan facilities now used.

Railroad Chief Operations Officer Matt Glynn apologized for the sudden decision to use East Woodpecker as a satellite station on Mondays, Saturdays and alternate Wednesdays during tourist season.

Glynn said there was no desire to hide the plans from the public. He said the idea was only hatched in February, and the railroad has since been scrambling to upgrade the facility as a solution to track crowding from the special Whittier train.

The buses start rolling

May 19.

Contact John R. Moses at

352-22780 or john.moses@

frontiersman.com.