On August 4, leaders gathered in Eagle River to discuss a step-by-step plan to complete a long-held vision to position Alaska as the central transportation and commerce hub connecting the United States to Europe and Asia. The plan, put forth by gubernatorial candidate Shelley Hughes, received commendation from the mayors of Nenana and Nome, business leader and former Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell, and transportation consultant Peter Scholz.
“Instead of Alaska being at the end of the road, Alaska will be the door to the globe,” stated former Senator Shelley Hughes. “This will open the opportunity for exports, to diversify our economy, to grow our private sector to a whole new level. Alaska is as close to Europe as the East Coast is. Nome is the closet port to Asia in all of North America. We have a wide open ocean, no Strait of Hormuz, no long journey to cut across the narrow Isthmus of Panama. In fact, Alaska will become the far more convenient Panama Canal of the 21st century.”
Hughes laid out her plan in three steps: 1) Finish the Port of Nome expansion, which is already under construction. 2) Connect the existing Alaska Railroad to Canada’s rail network through the Alaska to Alberta (A2A) project, which already has a presidential border permit and Canadian right-of-way approvals. 3) Extend the railroad from Nenana to Nome.
These links would open export routes for Alaska’s resources, especially critical minerals and energy, while lowering shipping and fuel costs for rural communities. The corridor would also strengthen U.S. presence in the Arctic, where Russian and Chinese shipping currently dominate. A developed rail and port corridor to Nome would support expanded Coast Guard icebreaker capacity and future military presence in the region, integrating the state’s transportation and economic development goals with the defense posture the Arctic increasingly demands.
“This isn’t a new idea. It’s decades of planning that never quite got across the finish line,” said Joshua Verhagen, Mayor of Nenana. “Jack Coghill, decades ago, proposed a rail line to Nome. What’s different now is that the Arctic shipping traffic is increasing and the pieces are finally lining up. Canada already has permits and right of way to our border. There’s real private investment interest, not another taxpayer funded feasibility study. Shelley understands this only works if you build it step by step and invite private industry to make it real.”
Mayor of Nome Kenney Hughes spoke on the impact the plan would have for rural Alaska: “For rural Alaska, the benefit is direct and immediate. A rail link to the interior would absolutely mean the world to Nome. It would help us lower our costs and continue to afford our subsistence lifestyles. It would also give Nome the opportunity to be the Arctic crossroads of the world, a great and positive thing for our region as well as our community.”
“We are ready. The preliminary work is underway on our eastern and western borders, and it’s time to build on that,” stated Hughes, who played a significant role in laying groundwork through her prior work in the House and Senate. As House Transportation Chair, she led hearings on the opening of the Arctic shipping lanes and on what was then, the potential of the Nome port. In the Senate, her Senate resolution for the presidential border permit for the A2A (Alaska to Alberta) rail project passed successfully and she worked to broker the deal to appropriate $175 million in state funds to draw down federal funds for the Port of Nome.
According to Hughes, the railway is central to unlocking Alaska’s mineral and energy potential. Her plan would make a viable path to market for ore currently trucked from the Tok area to Fort Knox, and strategic mineral deposits across the interior and western Alaska that remain stranded without transportation infrastructure. Rail access, paired with port capacity at Nome, would allow Alaska to compete for the investment already flowing into critical mineral development across North America, rather than watching that investment go to Canada or elsewhere.
Former Lt. Governor and business leader, Mead Treadwell, who has frequently advocated for the A2A rail, emphasized how Alaska can become a lead player in global transportation with an opening Arctic. He asked, “How do we play a major role? Here’s how. We go to work. Alaska can be more productive. Alaska’s destiny is not just what it is, but where it is.” Treadwell also announced he will be voting for the Hughes-Gettys ticket.
Business leader and transportation consultant, Peter Scholz of Cairnstone Planning Inc. joined online from Calgary to discuss his work on the A2A project’s Canadian portion. Scholz had presented the project in July at the PNWER Summit in Edmonton, Alberta to lawmakers and leaders from U.S. states in the northwest as well as western Canadian provinces.
Hughes stressed that private industry would lead the investment, not taxpayers. “I am inviting private industry to explore whether it makes sense to invest. This will not be a boondoggle,” stated Hughes.
Retired General Blake Gettys, Hughes’ Lt. Governor running mate tied the economic benefit of the plan to affordable energy for Alaskans: “Every mile of new rail also opens the door to economic activity and lower energy costs for Alaskans, including along the corridor. A completed line makes it far more practical to move natural gas, fuel, and other energy resources as well as other goods and products into communities throughout Alaska including into the rural villages along the route that currently pay some of the highest costs in the state.”
