A Faster Track.

The Alaska Railroad is straightening tracks and eliminating grade crossings to provide faster transit service and to increase safety.

For a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, eliminating curves would be a disaster. But for the Alaska Railroad, every curve that's straightened--or grade crossing eliminated--is a valuable efficiency and a safety improvement.

This year the Alaska Railroad will begin work on a track-straightening and upgrade project between Anchorage and Wasilla. The project helps smooth the way for possible commuter rail service connecting the fast-growing MatSu Borough with Anchorage.

Plans are also under study for large-scale track realignments around Wasilla and North Pole. But the more pressing task is to increase safety margins by eliminating grade crossings and sections of track perhaps more prone to costly derailments.

Seeing these projects through will take time, perseverance and money as rights of way must be altered and land trades negotiated.

"Reducing the sharpness of a curve really improves safety," said Kraig Hughes, director of project management for the Alaska Railroad. "We'll have definite improvements on road crossings, and quicker travel times to Fairbanks." Hughes estimated between 60 minutes and 90 minutes will be cut off the present travel time between Anchorage and Fairbanks through curve realignments, additional sidings and utilization of automatic switching.

Straighter track also means improved line of sight for engineers, reduced wear on track and railroad equipment, and reduced noise and vibration.

From Anchorage to Wasilla

The railroad's improvement effort between Anchorage and Wasilla includes about a half dozen separate projects, Hughes explained. They include:

* Adding a second track in South Anchorage, from Klatt Road to International Airport Road.

* Adding a "Y" connection to a spur into Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

* Continuing the addition of a second track into the railroad's main yard.

* Eliminating curves and designated road crossings from the rail yard to Eagle River, and then on to Knik River.

* Finalize engineering for track straightening from Knik River to Wasilla.

According to the Alaska Railroad's project summary, the Anchorage to Wasilla realignment will reduce the severity of approximately 70 sharp curves, improving the running time over the stretch by an impressive 40 minutes. The project, which began this construction season, is scheduled to be wrapped up by 2003.

Nearly $80 million will be spent on the Anchorage to Wasilla improvements.

The project also will give a big boost to operations at Elmendorf Air Force Base. According to the project summary, safety will be improved at the base as well as for the railroad. The current alignment contains numerous curves, at-grade road crossings and close clearance to the airport. The project will move the tracks away from the clear zone of the runway.

The project also will eliminate a handful of hazardous grade crossings on the Air Force base, explained Hughes. "There's one real bad crossing at Arctic Warrior-a base road-where there's kind of a 'Y' and bad visibility. That will be completely eliminated." A crossing at the Boniface entrance to the base also will be eliminated, and new lights and gates will be installed on Richardson Drive Otter Lake Road and at Artillery Road.

Hughes explained that when the railroad was constructed nearly 90 years ago "it meandered around hillsides to maintain grade. With the big 'dozers and scrapers we have today, we can put the track where we want to," he said.

Wasilla Improvements

The large-scale realignment proposals involve moving the railroad itself away from downtown Wasilla.

"In Wasilla, the railroad and the Parks Highway share the same right-of-way," explained Mike Krieber, transportation aide to Rep. Vic Kohring (R-Wasilla). "In downtown Wasilla, traffic can get phenomenally backed up at the Main Street intersection, especially in the morning."

According to a study for the City of Wasilla, released Jan. 15, objectives of the project will be to "improve traffic safety and capacity, improve railroad run times, enhance environmental protections, provide for pedestrian access and safety, and make the railroad and highway consistent with the City of Wasilla's planning objectives for the downtown area."

The top safety issue is school buses, Krieber explained. The borough school district estimates school buses cross tracks 240 times each day to access the south side of the community, the report stated. The south side of the community is isolated from emergency vehicles for up to 13 minutes each time a train passes, the report added.

Four options are being studied, from 5.7 to nearly 8 miles in length, with an estimated cost of between $52.6 million and $65.6 million. The project would require between 136 and 193 acres of new right of way, while cutting the overall length of the railroad up to 1.16 miles.

"The major goal is to be able to develop the Parks Highway better," Krieber added. "The issue is to get the tracks out of town and get rid of 11 grade crossings. The Parks Highway is just choked by the railroad ... but for the railroad, this realignment will mean their trains can go a lot faster, a lot safer.

"Eventually, the Parks Highway will be a divided, four-lane highway. That can't happen with the railroad there," Krieber said. "Under a really aggressive scenario, construction could begin in five years. But for now, we're just in the conceptual engineering stage."

The preliminary estimated cost for re-routing the Alaska Railroad around Wasilla is $50 million including acquiring right of way.

The railroad and the Alaska Department of Transportation are also looking into removing grade crossings at two places along the Parks Highway near Willow and Hurricane. The railroad is realigning a couple of sharp curves in the Healy Canyon, Hughes added.

From Fairbanks to North Pole

Safety and speed are the major issues behind realigning an important spur of the Alaska Railroad that connects Fairbanks with the North Pole refinery and Eielson Air Force Base, explained Dean Owen, director of the Fairbanks Industrial Development Corp.

"Removing grade crossings on the Richardson Highway would allow buses to cut 20 minutes off their round-trip time between Fairbanks and North Pole. That's important when the buses are tour buses taking folks to shop at the Santa Claus House, for example," Owen said. "If there are four or five trips, that's an hour saved."

A study released in January plots a route which would take the spur south from the main track west of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The proposed route would follow the median of the Parks Highway and then the Tanana River Levee to the North Pole refinery, eliminating close to 40 grade crossings from College Road to 8th Avenue in North Pole.

"It would save the railroad 50-55 minutes on a run from the refinery to the railroad's yards in Fairbanks," Owen said. It is estimated the project will cost between $78.2 million and $90.3 million and construction is projected to begin in five years.

"It would be a great benefit for the city of North Pole," explained Paul Prusak, regional planner for the Alaska Department of Transportation. "It would get the railroad out of the middle of North Pole. For now, the railroad is sort of a barrier to growth."

At present, two trains of tanker cars serve the refinery. "Two loads come in empty, and two loads leave full," Prusak said. "These have to be handled in the Fairbanks yard. A new alignment would allow the train to head right out of town."