Session: State Capitol, Room 214 Juneau, AK 99801-1182 Toll Free: (800) 565-3742 Phone: (907) 465-3743 Fax: (907) 465-2381 Personal Web Site: www.repjames.org Interim: post office: PO Box 56622 North Pole, AK 99705 Phone: (907) 488-9339 Fax: (907) 488-4271 location: 3340 Badger Road Beaver Brook Mall, Suite 290 North Pole, AK 99705 Phone: (907) 488-1546

House Supports
Railroad Link with Canada
HB 241 OKs Right-of-Way from Alaska to Yukon Territory

(JUNEAU) - A railroad connection between Alaska and the Lower 48 took another step closer to reality Friday with the House passage of legislation directing the Alaska Railroad to identify a rail and utility right-of-way from Alaska to Canada.

Sponsored by Rep. Jeannette James (R-North Pole), HB 241 would authorize the Alaska Railroad Corporation to survey a 500-foot wide corridor sufficient for a railroad and utility right-of-way from its existing tracks at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks to the Alaska-Canada border.

"Alaska's economic future will be built on improved infrastructure," James said. "Connecting Alaska to the rest of North America will benefit the mining, agriculture, tourism, military, manufacturing and oil and gas sectors of the economy. It will also reduce the cost of bringing goods in to the state, and of exporting our products Outside."

The bill also helps prepare for future progress on such a rail link, by authorizing the state Department of Natural Resources to grant a right of way over state land for the corridor all the way to Whitehorse, in Canada's Yukon Territory. The bill leaves it to the Railroad to seek the funding required for the project, but helps demonstrate the state's support for linking its rail system with the continental rail network, she said.

James has been working to build up steam for the Alaska-Canada rail link for several years, winning legislative approval of a resolution in 1999, and speaking widely on the topic in statewide and international forums. Last year the federal government joined her, with U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski winning $6 million for a three-year U.S.-Canadian study of a rail line's feasibility, support for which is said to be building in Canada's national government.

"Planning and building an Alaska-Canada rail link could open a new golden era of mineral development in the North, and ease the way for natural gas pipelines, roads, electric transmission lines, fiber optic cables or other utilities along the same right-of-way," James said.

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Attachments:

• Sponsor Statement for SB 241
• Print Friendly Version
  requires Adobe Acrobat Reader - 1 page(s) - 95 K

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