FAIRBANKS, Alaska — The Alaska Railroad will have to hustle if it wants to open its new Fairbanks depot in 2004, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports.
The construction schedule is stalled because railroad officials had to prove that the project won’t contribute to the Interior’s poor air quality problems.
The bulk of the construction should take place in 2003 although some may still take place this summer, an Alaska Railroad official said.
“Unfortunately a delay this time of year is very significant,” said Bob O’Neil, Alaska Railroad project manager. “You can’t get a design done and a bid out and still be competitive.”
The railroad wants to move its Fairbanks passenger terminal from its current location on Driveway Street to property near the Johansen Expressway and Danby Street. The $11.5 million project includes building an approximately 9,000 square-foot depot with room to expand to 14,000 square feet, 120 regular parking spaces and 40 tour bus spaces.
The project also would include 13,000 feet of new track that would allow trains to turn around to head back toward Anchorage, O’Neil said.
The delay comes because additional information was needed for the railroad project’s environmental assessment, which has yet to be approved. Railroad staff had to show the Federal Transit Authority the depot project would not contribute to air quality alerts that Fairbanks gets in the wintertime, O’Neil said. The requirement was unexpected.
Local air quality sometimes exceeds federal standards due mostly to winter weather conditions. O’Neil anticipates the railroad will be able to get the depot project out to bid by March, and still open the facility in 2004 as originally planned. The construction schedule will be tighter than previously thought.
The public will be able to comment on the environmental assessment, possibly in February. O’Neil said a public meeting will be scheduled.
“At that point we would go over everything,” O’Neil said.
The railroad needs the new depot mainly for two reasons, O’Neil said. One is to ease vehicle congestion and improve passenger safety at Phillips Field Road. The other is for the savings the railroad would earn by being able to clean, maintain and stock the train while it is parked overnight in one location, he said. Now the railroad has to move the passenger trains back and forth in the morning and evening because railcars block Phillips Field Road. Tour buses line up in an unpaved area in the railroad industrial area, and it is inconvenient for passengers.
Not many people had concerns about the new depot at a railroad informational open house held in Fairbanks on Wednesday evening. One current depot neighbor said he would miss the bustling sounds of the train once it is relocated.
“It’s just been a part of your childhood and adulthood,” said Wil Courtney, 49, who grew up in the neighborhood on Illinois Street. “I’ll miss it.”
Another man wondered about railroad passengers being able to walk to downtown because it seemed the new depot was isolated. “It’s really an island situation,” said Alfred Kange.
The problem was addressed for both the short and long terms, said Keith Hanneman, with PDC Inc. Consulting Engineers, the firm that drew up draft depot designs.
“We’re going to have a pedestrian and bike path connected to the existing bike path (near the expressway),” Hanneman said for the short-term fix. The Johansen bike trail leads to Illinois Street, which can then be followed into town, he said.
The long-term fix would be to build a bike and pedestrian trail that would follow east along the train’s new turn-around track in the railroad’s industrial area and then onto Illinois.
The railroad also wants to realign its Fairbanks and North Pole tracks to avoid 48 highway or street crossings. One option would have to the train enter town via Sheep Creek Road and down the meridian of the Parks Highway past Fairbanks International Airport. From there train tracks would lead to the Tanana River dike and head to North Pole and Williams Alaska Petroleum refinery. The railroad is discussing variations of that plan, which include keeping route the same through town but crossing the Richardson Highway to go to the dike.
The track realignment project options are estimated to be $8 million to $100 million. The railroad is holding public discussions on which option to pursue for permitting and funding.
In other news, the railroad will put out to bid the Denali National Park Rail Station project in six to eight weeks, said Tom Brooks, Alaska Railroad chief engineer. The $4.5 million project will expand the passenger depot and enlarge parking for buses and other vehicles inside the park at the railroad’s current location, Brooks said. Construction should be completed by 2003.