Alaska Railroad expansion from Moose Creek to Tanana Flats eyed

Army project on hold

By Amanda Bohman, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Published Sunday, April 20, 2008
Source: http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/apr/20/railroad-eyes-new-expansion/

The Alaska Railroad Corp. is making plans to build rail from Moose Creek to the Tanana Flats using money originally set aside to realign rail on Fort Wainwright, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens announced Saturday.

The Fort Wainwright railroad project will be put on hold, pleasing critics who say it undermines separate plans to move all train traffic out of downtown Fairbanks and to the south.

The project on the Army base won’t move forward until the controversy is resolved, Stevens said at a news conference in Fairbanks.

“We hope we can get the people in Fairbanks together on where (the rail) should be relocated,” Stevens said. “It’s something that has to be resolved at home before we can get any more money.”

The $110 million expansion to the Tanana Flats would allow the U.S. Army year-round access to its training area, Stevens said.

The Army can use the training area only a few months of the year by driving its vehicles over the frozen Tanana River, officials said. The federally funded project would allow the Army to move its vehicles by rail.

Extending rail into the Tanana Flats is a step toward realizing Stevens’ goal to lay rail to Canada, the senator said.

“I have a dream that once we get the railroad to the Tanana Valley flats, we can get it to Fort Greely,” Stevens said.

The project would entail building a railroad bridge over the Tanana River either near Harding Lake or near the Salcha Fairgrounds, said John Binkley, chairman of the Alaska Railroad Corp.

“We at the railroad think that it's an excellent idea,” Binkley said. “It puts aside the issue of what’s the best route for Fairbanks. The important task is to get access to that training area.”

Only the realignment on Fort Wainwright is stalled, Binkley added. Other railroad projects are still going forward.

“We’re still moving forward with the realignment around the city of North Pole,” he said.

The Rail Safety and Development Group is an collection of community members who lobbied against the Fort Wainwright project. Members reached Saturday were gratified by Stevens’ announcement.

“We were afraid that the relocation and upgrade of the Eielson Spur on Fort Wainwright would be to the detriment of ever getting a comprehensive rail bypass,” said John Phillips, the Fairbanks city engineer from 1977 to 1988.

“This being put on hold is good news,” former Fairbanks North Star Borough Assemblyman Hank Bartos said. “I think that they still need to study the southern bypass and get the railroad traffic out of downtown Fairbanks.”