MAT-SU — With the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension Project nearing federal review, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough is concentrating on the details.

The Borough Assembly has passed a resolution outlining several issues it hopes the Surface Transportation Board (STB) — a federal board that will approve a new spur line to the port — will consider in its review of the $220 million to $330 million project. The route will be decided by STB, likely sometime in 2009, with completion projected in 2012.

Borough officials are asking the STB to examine the social, economic and environmental impacts of three proposed routes for the new rail line. The Borough and Alaska Railroad Corp. have been studying routes that would run the new line to Willow, Houston or Big Lake. Reaction has been mixed from groups in Willow, while Houston City Council has lobbied hard for the railroad. The Borough has not selected a preferred route. With research showing projected growth along the Parks Highway in the Willow area, Borough Assembly Member Cindy Bettine said it is important to consider how residential and commercial development would be affected by the rail. In addition to impact on future development, the resolution outlines several environmental issues the Borough is recommending for further review, including

• how a rail line would affect drainage, particularly in the Big Lake Watershed and the Little Susitna River, and

• how the rail would affect recreation, agriculture and fish and wildlife along the proposed routes.

Along with the ordinance, the STB will receive the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension Project Alternatives Comparison — a report compiled by the Borough, railroad and two private consultants, said Patty Sullivan, public affairs director for the Mat-Su Borough. More than 18 project team members worked on the report for about five months analyzing the proposed routes to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each.

“What this study did was to give [the STB] a starting place,” Sullivan said.

Now that the project is up for federal review, Sullivan said the report will help ensure the STB has information from the level that might not be available otherwise. For example, the report makes note of recreation areas that could be affected by the rail line.

Although the report addresses many local issues, both Sullivan and Bettine believe the rail spur will have a an overall positive impact statewide, whichever route is finally chosen. With a large portion of the state’s valuable mineral resources located in northern Alaska, the rail line is expected be an instrumental part in the transportation of resources from the Interior to local shipping lanes.

“My position is that this is a legacy project,” Bettine said. “There hasn’t been anything like this since the construction of the Parks Highway.”

The Willow and Big Lake chambers of commerce passed resolutions favoring the Willow route, while the Willow Area Community Organization and trails groups opposed to it.

Although the Borough and ARRC have outlined three possible routes and the positives and negatives of each, the STB will ultimately decide the future of the rail spur, Bettine said.

The federal board will hire a consultant to conduct an environmental impact statement and base its approval on that and other supporting material. A decision by the STB is not expected until mid-2009 or later.