Alaska Railroad Corp. has received
a permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers to fill dozens of acres of wetlands
as it builds the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension project, a 30- to 45-mile rail line
that would provide freight services between the port and interior Alaska.
The new rail line would be an extension
of the Alaska Railroad’s current system, which connects ports in Seward, Whittier
and Anchorage with Interior Alaska, including Denali National Park, Fairbanks and
North Pole.
The permit, which was announced Sept.
12, authorizes the railroad to permanently fill about 96 acres of wetlands to construct
a new rail line about 36 miles long. The new line, which would carry bulk commodities,
would connect into the existing main rail line just south of Houston, Alaska and
end at Port MacKenzie.
The existing main line runs from Seward
through Anchorage to Fairbanks.
The permit includes special conditions
to avoid and minimize potential adverse impacts and to compensate for unavoidable
adverse impacts to the aquatic ecosystem and to ensure that the project would not
be contrary to the public interest.
The $270-$300 million project is a
joint effort between the state-owned railroad and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough,
which operates Port MacKenzie. The extension is projected to be complete by 2016.
