BOTTLENECKS BROKEN BY FERRY SYSTEMS.

Southcentral and Southeast Alaska are experiencing traffic congestion that may be eased by transportation systems utilizing the state's waterways.

First, canoes and skinboats plied Alaska's craggy coasts. Then came the sailing ships. Newly found gold spawned a network of sled dog trails and river steamships; the Richardson Highway was opened and the Alaska Railroad constructed. WW II brought airstrips and the Alaska Highway. Statehood came, and the oil patch boomed extending Alaska's frost-heaved road system to the Bering Sea.

Oil wealth and a boom in tourism filled many of the potholes in Alaska's transportation infrastructure in the 1980s and 1990s. True, no new highways have been built in Alaska in the last 20 years--arguably Alaska's richest two decades since the Russian eagle was pulled down for the last time in 1867. But at least some of the state's oil wealth has been spent widening, smoothing and strengthening Alaska's major highways.

With a proposed new highway connecting Juneau with the road system at Haines or Skagway on indefinite hold, it's unlikely any new major highways will be built anytime soon. Instead, the state's transportation visionaries are looking to break open a handful of key bottlenecks through ferry service. Fixing these pressure points will be the major undertaking of the first part of the 21st century when it comes to moving Alaska's transportation infrastructure ahead.

One of these bottlenecks exists between Alaska's largest municipality and the fastest-growing region-in other words the stretch between Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Other areas with traffic congestion can be found in Southeast Alaska: between Juneau and Sitka, between Juneau and Haines-Skagway, between Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island, between Ketchikan and Wrangell.

A new generation of Alaska ferries will be first in line to fix these stress points-not only in Southeast, but in Anchorage as well.

"The key is fixing bottlenecks," said Juneau Rep. Bill Hudson, a former head of the Alaska Marine Highway System. "We've paved almost every highway, widened shoulders, put in better drainage and heavier roadbeds. We've dramatically increased capacity over the past 20 years."

Officials in the Mat-Su Borough are close to finalizing plans for a passenger ferry that will connect Anchorage at a Ship Creek terminal with the Valley at Port McKenzie.

Port McKenzie-located across Knik Arm from downtown Anchorage--will be the first new port built in Alaska in 30 years. It is currently under construction. "It will be key for Southcentral Alaska," said Mat-SU Borough manager Mike Scott. "At 1.8 nautical miles, it's closer to downtown Anchorage than 80 percent of Anchorage."

The summer of 2002 is the target date for the start of ferry service between the port and a ferry terminal at Ship Creek. In addition to an improved road connecting the port with the Parks Highway, a new rail line will be completed to connect the Alaska Railroad with the port. The idea is to move commuters quickly to downtown Anchorage--as well as to ease the way for transport of products and materials from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to Interior Alaska.

"The Mat-Su Valley is the fastest-growing area of Alaska-and it's the third fastest growing county in the United States," Scott said.

The ferry-rail-port project is all part of Knik ARM, short for Alaska Regional Multimodal Transportation Project. Multimodal is a key word because it explains the nature of the project and its hoped-for efficiency.

The long-term goal of the port project is to pull together many kinds of transportation-road, rail, ferry, air, even trails-in such a way as to allow easy transfer of passengers or materials from one to the other. This could mean moving recreational snowmobilers from Anchorage to the Mat-Su Valley by ferry and road, or containerized goods from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to Fairbanks by road, ferry and rail.

The first of two planned ferry vessels will have an open car deck for quick drive on/drive off, a hull designed for the pan ice of Cook Inlet, and engines powerful enough to handle the quirky currents of the short 1.8-nautical mile crossing.

"It will cost the price of a movie ticket or less to go across," Scott said, making the cost of the commute at least equal to the cost of the much-longer drive along the existing highway.

In Southeast, the state has approved funds for the first so-called fast ferry which, when placed in service by 2002, will connect Sitka and Juneau on a daily basis. Rep. Hudson said it will be a good first step toward loosening one of the region's bigger transportation bottlenecks.

Hudson described the problem simply: "Today, you have more people who want to travel between Sitka and Juneau than there is the capacity for. The Department of Transportation has authorized a high-speed ferry (better than 16 knots) that if all works out will be able to carry 250 people and 40 vehicles each day between Juneau and Sitka."

The goal, Hudson explained, is to mix the use of main line ferries and short-haul fast ferries in order to reduce costs while increasing service. Other high-speed ferries will be needed to fix transportation problems between Juneau and the upper Lynn Canal, as well as between Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg.

Another transportation bottleneck in Southeast is being fixed in a more local manner. A smaller ferry--run by a local agency--will be constructed to connect Ketchikan with Hollis, on Prince of Wales Island, and if a second ferry is put in service, between Hollis and Wrangell.

"That will be more like a local road over the water," Hudson said.

Still, new ferries in Southeast and on Knik Arm will do more than move commuters. Both are being looked at as big boosts for local economies. The Knik ARM project, for example, will be tied in with the opening of industrial property at Port McKenzie as well as with new recreational trails especially suitable for snowmobilers. That, Scott said, will mean new opportunities for entrepreneurs.

For one thing the port itself will bring in jobs as coal, timber and agricultural products are exported directly--saving a costly transfer to other Alaska ports. "Already we have a company manufacturing modular homes," Scott said.

In Southeast, a fast same-day connection between Juneau and Sitka will have similar benefits, Hudson predicted. "I see an immediate benefit for mom-and-pop, value-added seafood processors. You'll open up new markets because it will just be more affordable to go from one city to the other and conduct business with one overnight stay. As it is now, with three-or four-day-a-week service, you have to stay two or three nights, minimum.

"I see a lot of plusses," Hudson said.