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Big transportation projects in budget $50 million to study linking Alaska and Canada by rail in Gov. Murkowski’s proposal, along with planning for North Slope roads The Associated Press
A railroad to Canada is one of a few huge transportation projects the governor wants to fund with tens of millions of dollars in seed money.
Gov. Frank Murkowski proposes spending $50 million in state general funds to study the possibility of linking Alaska and Canada by rail.
The Republican governor is also calling for $45 million to better connect Juneau, Alaska’s isolated capital, to the road network. It’s expected to cost more than five times that much if built.
The governor’s budget, released Dec. 15, includes smaller amounts to plan roads on the North Slope and study a road link from the Southeast town of Wrangell over the Coast Mountains to British Columbia.
Murkowski campaigned for governor on a bold transportation platform. Now he has the money to try to make it happen. High oil prices have given the state a projected $1.2 billion surplus this year.
But Murkowski acknowledged he might have trouble getting the Legislature to agree to his proposals.
Democrats have criticized Murkowski for not saving surplus money to absorb deficits when oil prices drop. Republicans, who control the Legislature, have hesitated at the size of Murkowski’s spending increases and have their own hometown projects to fund. Environmental review of railroad extension Still, some legislators in the Interior and elsewhere are intrigued by the possibility of extending the Alaska Railroad.
“It’s an interesting proposal. I think we’re going to dissect it in the Legislature,” said House Finance Co-Chairman Mike Chenault, R-Nikiski.
Murkowski wants the state funds for an environmental review of extending the railway from Delta Junction to connect with the northern Canadian railhead that dead-ends at Fort Nelson and Dease Lake, British Columbia.
State project documents say the project would require extending the track by 1,100 miles.
State transportation special assistant Mark Taylor said the project’s current cost estimate is $6 billion to $8 billion. That’s at least double the state’s entire general fund spending this year.
Taylor said the governments of the Yukon and Alaska are splitting the costs of a roughly $7 million study of the economic benefits of such a rail link. He said the report is expected in late summer.
Another longtime dream of Murkowski’s is to extend the road out of Juneau. He is proposing $45 million in state general funds. Add to that $15 million in recently acquired federal funds, state officials say, and it could start construction on the first 23 miles. That could help the Kensington gold mine being developed north of Juneau, state officials said.
The state’s $250 million Juneau access plan calls for a 50-mile road north from Echo Cove to a ferry terminal to be built at the Katzehin River. Shuttle ferries would be purchased to run people and vehicles from there to the state road system in Haines or Skagway.
Murkowski is entering the final year of his first term and hasn’t said whether he will seek re-election.
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