Tracks divide Palmer, residents

PALMER — What value does a set of derelict railroad tracks have to a community? Are they a reminder of what’s past and worthy of historic preservation? Or are they a nuisance and an unnecessary divide through the center of town?

After the Palmer City Council first considered a resolution to remove the tracks, and then another to restore them to working order, the city will create an advisory committee of residents to answer these questions.

Earlier this summer, a plan came before the council to remove the tracks running through downtown as part of the downtown revitalization efforts. The berm would have been leveled, and a non-motorized use trail would be created running from the fairgrounds to the Matanuska River.

The goal was to improve the connections between the east and west sides of Palmer for drivers and people with disabilities, city officials said at the time. A commemorative section of the tracks was to be preserved in front of the Palmer Depot.

But, after receiving community commentary in support of leaving the tracks, the city withdrew its proposal to rip them up, Mayor John Combs said.

“We have some people who are truly invested in (the tracks),” Combs said. “Dead railroad tracks wasn’t something I considered absolutely necessary, but there are some people who think they are.”

Combs said one resident in particular approached him with a request to preserve the tracks.

Gerry Heeling said the tracks were laid in 1917 to service the Chickaloon coal fields and were the main transportation for the colonists of 1935.

“It is truly a story of national significance. I tend to be a bit spiritual, and I totally cherish the soul of the nation,” Heeling said. “Palmer is very much a picture-perfect postcard town of that soul, and the tracks are part of that picture.”

“She has a point,” Combs said.

Hearing concerns like Heeling’s, Combs proposed a resolution asking the Alaska Railroad to improve the tracks from the spur to Matanuska Electric Association north into downtown.

According to the Alaska Railroad, the estimated price tag of rebuilding the track to commuter standards would be $1.2 million. The repairs necessary to allow for period traffic, like the Colony Christmas train, would cost around $600,000.

Combs said economics did not play a role in introducing the request. He is under no presumption the tracks can become economically viable. The Colony Christmas train, which was canceled this year because the tracks were deemed too dangerous, would not make up the money spent improving the tracks. Combs said he does not see rail cars shipping coal from Sutton or goods to Palmer even if the tracks are improved. A commuter train to Anchorage would certainly be better served with the ample parking at the South Palmer Station, he said.

His request was simply so the residents who support the tracks could have their voices heard.

“I just want something that is going to make the most people in the community happy and comfortable with the decision,” Combs said. “I have tremendous respect for Gerry Keeling.”

As for the Alaska Railroad, Assistant Vice President Wendy Lindskoog said funding for such a project is unlikely in the near future.

“We’re in a position right now where we have had to downsize. … Where we are spending our capital money tends to focus on the main lines,” Lindskoog said.

That’s not to say the railroad board of directors is hostile to the idea, she said, but the board first needs to hear what the community of Palmer really wants.

The city council took up the resolution Tuesday. Hearing a resolution that was almost the polar opposite of another introduced earlier in the year, the council voted to table the resolution and form a charrette.

The charrette will consist of city staff and community representatives, Palmer Community Development Director Sandra Garley said. It will hold public meetings to hear what residents want to see in the next 15 years, she said.

“This is about the community as a whole. We want to identify all the stakeholders. We want to have a whole spectrum of the community and ask, ‘What do you want?’” Garley said.

Combs said the charrette will be formed in January with public hearings soon after. He hopes the railroad issue will come before the city council again in March, and the council can make a decision based on the charrette’s findings.

Even if the tracks remain in place, the railroad has given the city permission to construct the non-motorized path along side, Combs said. The current plans call for the path to run north from Arctic Avenue to a Matanuska River overlook, and Combs said construction could begin as soon as this spring.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.