The Alaska Railroad Corp. is advancing a plan to eliminate train travel through Fort Wainwright Army Post by laying track around the perimeter of the base.

Area mayors are asking the corporation to focus instead on eliminating all train traffic through both the post and the city of Fairbanks.
Railroad President Patrick Gamble said the mayors' preferred option--that the railroad lay a new set of tracks around the city's south side--and the Wainwright option are not in competition for the same funding. He suggested that both could eventually be built.

The options are the result of five years of planning by the railroad with input from local governments and a volunteer committee. The plan was focused on improving track in, around and between the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole. Recently, railroad officials learned they will receive money from the Department of Defense to reroute track around the northern and eastern boundaries of Fort Wainwright. The track currently bisects the post and Gamble said Defense officials have expressed concern that freight and passenger trains run directly through a military installation.

Gamble said rerouting track around the base will eliminate between 20 and 30 road crossings--one of the stated purposes of the project, which aims to improve or realign a 19-mile stretch of track.

But the mayors of the cities of Fairbanks and North Pole and the Fairbanks North Star Borough worry the railroad's pursuit of the Wainwright option means the corporation will not spend money on their preferred option. That route would effectively eliminate rail crossings in Fairbanks' urban areas.

"It makes very little sense to keep that railroad running through residential areas and commercial districts in Fairbanks," borough Mayor Jim Whitaker said. "Putting more and faster trains through the center of Fairbanks is not the answer."

Whitaker and North Pole Mayor Jeff Jacobson said they want the railroad to build track south along the Parks Highway to the Tanana River levee. Trains would then turn east and follow the southern edge of the Richardson Highway to North Pole.

Whitaker said federal and state laws protect railroads and that local governments have little control over their actions.

The North Pole City Council in a resolution passed last week opposed a realignment project in the Fort Wainwright and Trainor Gate Road area if it could "potentially diminish the completion" of the Parks Highway option.

The railroad's current train track parallels the north side of the Richardson after leaving Fort Wainwright.

As part of the Wainwright option, officials plan to use railroad money to lessen the noise and impact of trains on neighborhoods in the city, Gamble said.

"We proceeded to continue with the plan with the Army on the basis that this would be a positive thing for all parties concerned," Gamble said.

Gamble said he thinks the Parks Highway option could cost more than $100 million and take several years to complete. He also agrees that it is a good project. The Wainwright option, on the other hand, would cost around $30 million to build and the railroad still needs another $12 million to complete the design.

Gamble stressed that while both options may look competitive on paper, the potential funding sources are not. He suggested that if engineering and funding allow the railroad to build the alternative the mayors hope for, the northern route could become a dedicated passenger route.

"The two options are not in competition," Gamble said. "It's just that one (option) is ahead."

Jacobson said while he understands the railroad may choose to build around Fort Wainwright with the federal money it can find, now is the best time to couple both phases with the goal of removing trains from the area's roads and growing urban areas.

"We've identified a route that would take care of today's concerns and also tomorrow's concerns," he said.