There's still hope for the south extension of the Coastal Trail. While anti-trail forces have the upper hand on the Anchorage Assembly and got the project deleted from various city planning documents, the Begich administration deserves huge credit for managing to keep it alive.
Thanks to Mayor Mark Begich's persistence, the final environmental impact statement is at long last done. The route recommended by the EIS is a workable compromise. It shrinks the cost and softens the effect on homeowners, without invading the politically untouchable Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge. The feds should approve the project so Anchorage can begin moving forward on the noncontroversial sections.
The new trail plan includes a lot less of the coast, but it should provoke a lot less controversy, too. It detours inland along Klatt Road to avoid any possible disturbance to the most sensitive habitat in the coastal refuge. That detour also avoids crossing the distant end of the big privately owned lots that extend down the coastal bluff onto the flats below.
Another inland detour avoids a fight with property owners on the west end. The trail runs along an upgraded West Dimond Boulevard as it leaves Kincaid Park. At the east end of the trail, the route veers inland once again, to avoid the Rabbit Creek Rifle Range. From there, the route follows the Seward Highway inside the Alaska Railroad berm, away from the coast.
All those changes have narrowed the conflicts with property owners. The handful of remaining problems could be avoided if the trail could run inside the boundary of the coastal refuge. But near-hysterical opposition, combined with well-intentioned federal restrictions, make that impossible for now.
The $26.5 million trail can be built in affordable phases $2 million or $3 million at a time over the next decade. The east and west ends shouldn't cause anyone heartburn. The section inside Kincaid Park is a no-brainer that should have been built long ago. After all, the park's trails are its main attraction.
From Kincaid, the trail would run alongside West Dimond Boulevard when the road is upgraded. That shouldn't be controversial, either. At the east end, the last two miles of trail can be done as part of improvements to the Seward Highway where it runs along Potter Marsh.
The inland middle section, along Klatt Road, should be attractive, since it is the kind of neighborhood trail link that project opponents say the city should be building. The trail section that runs along the railroad right of way south of Oceanview doesn't disturb any private property owners. Some other sections traverse municipal parks or existing trail easements and shouldn't be controversial, either.
If a few other sections have to stay in limbo, so be it. As pieces of the southern Coastal Trail are built, people will come to use it and love it and ask for more.
Perhaps property owners will see the light, as those who opposed the northern section have, and decide to welcome a nearby trail. Perhaps pandering politicians and single-minded biologists will back off and allow some trail to cross noncritical parts of the refuge. Whatever the solution, the southern shoreline of Anchorage is a gem that should, and eventually will, be opened to the entire community.
BOTTOM LINE: The latest Coastal Trail extension proposal is a reasonable compromise. Let's move ahead with the noncontroversial pieces.