By ROSEMARY SHINOHARA
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: March 22, 2003)
The committee that decides transportation priorities for Anchorage served notice Thursday it may bump the proposed extension of the city's Coastal Trail from near the top of the trail-building list to a lower ranking
Now No. 3, the southern Coastal Trail might get moved to No. 11 or 12. That would put it behind the Campbell Creek and Chester Creek trails, construction of a proposed new Midtown Trail, a 12-mile-long Eagle River trail and Muldoon Road pedestrian facilities, among other projects.
Mayor George Wuerch, one of five members of the AMATS Committee, proposed the change, saying he thinks the Coastal Trail should be "first in line after we have funded these neighborhood trails."
The AMATS committee consists of the mayor, two Anchorage Assembly members and the state commissioners of transportation and environmental conservation. It directs spending for federally funded transportation projects in the municipality from Eklutna to Potter Marsh. The money is provided on a matching basis, 90 percent federal and 10 percent state.
The AMATS priority list and proposed funding for roads, trails and other projects through 2009 is a draft. It is scheduled to go for comment to the city Planning and Zoning Commission in early April and to the Anchorage Assembly in mid-April. AMATS plans to give the document final approval May 15.
At Wuerch's urging, the committee on Thursday voted 4-1 to add a footnote to its trails listings, noting that it will consider the lower ranking for the Coastal Trail. AMATS member and Anchorage Assemblyman Doug Van Etten objected. Among other reasons, he said, the public had not been given a chance to discuss the decision or comment on it.
The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail currently runs from downtown to Kincaid Park, about 11 miles. The extension would take it another 13 miles to Potter Marsh. The state produced a draft environmental impact statement backing a mostly coastal route, among other choices that include inland routes. The environmental report will be open for public comments until mid-May.
In considering whether to lower the Coastal Trail's ranking for funds, Dave Eberle, regional director of the state Department of Transportation, said the route decision probably wouldn't be made until late summer or fall in any case.
Because no route has been chosen, the AMATS plan so far calls for zero funding for 2004 to 2006. But funding could be plugged into those slots later depending on where the trail is ranked.
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Daily News reporter Rosemary Shinohara can be reached at rshinohara@adn.com or 907-257-4340.
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People may comment on the draft road and trail building plan for Anchorage by e-mailing AMATS coordinator James Armstrong at armstrongjj@ci.anchorage.ak.us, or writing to MOA/AMATS, Planning and Development Center, 4700 Bragaw St., Anchorage 99507.