Commuter rail makes commute easy for Valley residents: when completed it will offer more than travel between Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley. It will also offer commuter service between downtown Anchorage, the Dimond Center and the airport.

• Author: Wentworth, Cynthia

The summer of 1963, when I was 15, I rode my bicycle to the (Ted Stevens) Anchorage International Airport regularly from my home on Fireweed Lane. I was working at the tourist information booth at the airport, and I was preparing for a bike trip in the San Juan Islands. One day, my bike tire became caught in the railroad track where it crosses International Airport Road at a diagonal, and I fell. After that I learned to always keep my bike tire perpendicular to railroad tracks, or to walk my bike across. That incident also made me notice that a rail line went to the airport. And that was the start of my dream: Anchorage could have passenger trains to the airport!

My dream began coming true almost 40 years later, when on Dec. 4, 2002, I rode the Alaska Railroad's inaugural passenger train to the airport. But my dream won't really be fulfilled until we have regular passenger service for commuters, tourists and visiting rural Alaskans between the airport, Dimond Center, downtown Anchorage and the Mat-Su Valley.

In the 40 years since my dream began, I have witnessed Anchorage grow into a less walkable and bikeable, more car dependent community. The unfortunate development pattern of sprawl in Southcentral Alaska has made people almost totally reliant on their cars, pickups and sports utility vehicles. Highway oriented sprawl often creates unsafe conditions for pedestrians and decreases opportunities for walking and its associated health benefits. However, commuter rail can:

1) Help promote more compact, walkable and bikeable real estate development near the existing raft line--both commercial and residential

2) Alleviate the need to add lanes to the Glenn Highway

3) Help Anchorage meet air-quality standards

4) Reduce our dependence on fossil fuels

5) Be a catalyst for improved bus service, bike routes and sidewalks, which will all be needed to connect people to rail.

The Alaska Railroad is laying the foundation for commuter rail service by investing in several capital projects, including track straightening and automated-switching technology, the new Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Rail Depot, and new or planned intermodal facilities in Anchorage, Palmer and Wasilla.

One key to potential success of commuter rail is the straightening of the tracks between Anchorage and Wasilla. This new straighter, continuous-welded track will increase the speed that both passenger and freight trains can safely travel. When completed in fall 2004...