Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed into law legislation that would prove to be a major milestone for the Alaska Railroad Corporation’s planned Seward cruise ship passenger dock project. The project will be a value add to tourism, the Alaska Railroad Corporation, Southcentral Alaska, and to the state as a whole. SB 218 authorizes the ARRC to issue revenue bonds to finance the replacement of the Alaska Railroad Corporation’s passenger dock and related terminal facility in Seward.
Senate President Peter Micciche discusses SB 218:
“Senate Bill 218 was signed on the third in Seward and that was the appropriate place for signing the bill. That was our railroad bill and we had placed the railroad bill into HB 127, which was the bond bank bill. It’s important for our district for several reasons, the bond bank bill is important as well, but the passenger and cargo terminal in Seward was built about the same year I was built. It’s gotten beyond its useful life. There’s about a $76 million project happening there. Many cruise ships are docking there these days, which is very important to the tourist economy throughout southcentral Alaska, but particularly the Kenai.”
Sen. Micciche adds that when the railroad wants to bond for a project, it’s not a burden to the state:
“This state is not on the hook. It’s independent bonding. Only the railroad corporation is responsible for that, but it will mean a lot for not only cruise ship traffic coming into southcentral supporting our lodges and restaurants and different tourist related businesses, but also as a redundancy to the Port of Alaska. It is in a deep-water, ice-free port, which is Seward and it will have the capacity to offload containers and things that we need to survive here in Alaska if there is ever an issue with the Port of Alaska being able to do so.”
Sen. Micciche says that, to meet the 2024 need for replacement of the passenger terminal facility, it’s imperative that the ARRC coordinate public debt funding by mid-2022.
Click here for more information on SB 218.