After decades of planning, the Fish Creek Trail Connection, which would follow an Alaska Railroad right-of-way and connect the existing Fish Creek Trail in Spenard with the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, was fast becoming a reality. Anchorage voters approved funding for the trail via municipal bonds in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, federal matching funds were secured, and the project team was moving forward with reviews and other planning processes. The trail project and the selected route had received overwhelming public support and the approval of many community organizations. Even the Railroad itself, long viewed as an obstacle to the completion of the trail, was now widely seen by trail advocates as a partner.

But last week, without warning, Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF) staff were ordered to stop all work on the trail and cancel all further outreach and events. The unexplained “pencils down” order has thrown the project into jeopardy, alarming trail advocates and fueling rampant speculation about the ability of powerful Alaskans to exert undue and harmful influence over Anchorage’s community infrastructure.

“There are some genuine safety concerns that we have…”

At the same time that DOT&PF ordered a halt to work on the project, Marathon Petroleum, which operates a pipeline in the Fish Creek corridor, was scheduled to give a fifteen-minute presentation to the Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions (AMATS) Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to explain their opposition to current trail plans. The timing, and unusual nature of the presentation, raised eyebrows and led many trail advocates to view the two events as part of the same effort to kill the project.

In their presentation, which was given during the TAC’s December 5 meeting, Marathon stated that their “main concern” with current plans for the trail was that it would make a small above-ground pipeline valve more visible to public. The valve in question is located at the end of Coho Way, and has long been plainly visible from the north end of a pedestrian bridge crossing Northern Lights Boulevard.

“That trail goes right next to that block valve,” said Marathon, “so there’s some serious concerns with hundreds of people walking past our fence every single day, seeing that critical infrastructure. Seeing that valve.”

Marathon also stated that their pipeline would have to run under or near paved portions of the Fish Creek Trail Connection, complicating pipeline maintenance.

Marathon repeatedly claimed that they support the trail in theory, but advocated for an alternate trail route that would add many millions of dollars to project costs and prevent it from proceeding, multiple people involved with the project told the Landmine.

“It’s obviously absurd.”

Project proponents immediately balked at Marathon’s justifications for opposing the project, both in public and while speaking to the Landmine, consistently describing them as non-credible.

In a follow-up public presentation to the TAC, Anchorage Parks and Recreation Director Mike Braniff noted that Marathon’s pipeline already runs below numerous paved transportation corridors, including Northern Lights Blvd, the Coastal Trail, and all three north/south runways at the Ted Stevens Anchorage Airport, and that above-ground block valves are already visible to the public in multiple locations.

“Why does exposure lead them to believe that there’s an increased risk for issues, when we have multiple utilities that people hike, walk, bike past on a daily basis in the Anchorage bowl?” one incredulous member of the public asked after Marathon’s TAC presentation. “It seems like they’re just using the potential of something happening as a leverage point.”

Speaking to the Landmine, Representative Zack Fields (D – Anchorage) described Marathon’s claims as “obviously absurd given how much of Marathon’s infrastructure is next to roads elsewhere.” Fields noted that Marathon’s infrastructure would be safer with more eyes on it, not fewer, and that Marathon did not seem to be taking any measures to better-protect their infrastructure elsewhere.

“It’s so bizarre,” Fields said, “that you can only wonder, you know, maybe one of these tiny number of landowners who doesn’t support the trail has a friend in Marathon.”

In response to a question from one AMATS member, another member noted that Marathon’s presentation itself was out of the ordinary. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a presentation from a stakeholder to the committee,” he said. A third member then followed with “We don’t typically allow stakeholders to come present on projects, ’cause it’s done through the project process. So this one is a little unusual. We received a request from the deputy commissioner of DOT, stepping in for some reason on this project.”

“It’s gonna destroy the value of my property. One hundred percent complete.”

Outright opposition to the Fish Creek Trail appears to originate largely from two private property owners: J.L. McCarrey, who owns property on the north end of the proposed trail, and John E. Haxby, who owns at least two properties near the southern end of the trail via a legal entity called Tiger Trust.

The Landmine has previously covered the McCarrey family’s effort to block the trail here.

John E. Haxby has stated in multiple forums that he believes the Fish Creek Trail Connection would be an infringement of his private property rights and would compromise his home and back yard. Municipal property maps indicate that Haxby’s back yard, like those of his neighbors, extends far past his municipally-recognized property line and into the Alaska Railroad right-of-way. The route selected by trail planners for the Fish Creek Trail Connection would not site the trail on Haxby’s recognized private property, but would route it through or past a portion of the Alaska Railroad right-of-way currently fenced off by Haxby.

In the TAC meeting, Haxby stated that the Fish Creek Trail Connection would result in the loss of his back yard, endanger his four-year-old twins, and devastate his property values. “It’s gonna destroy the value of my property,” Haxby stated, “One hundred percent complete.”

After the meeting, Haxby explained to the Landmine that he believes the land underlying the Alaska Railroad right-of-way adjacent to his property is also, in fact, his personal private property. The Alaska Railroad, he claimed, only owns an easement for railroad, telegraph, and telephone services and other uses of the alleged easement constitute an unauthorized use of his private property.

In an e-mail to the Landmine, the Alaska Railroad disputed Haxby’s claims about his alleged control over the Alaska Railroad right-of-way. According to the Railroad, Haxby had previously sought and received a permit to maintain his back yard in their right-of-way, most recently renewing the permit in 2014, but he let the permit lapse in 2019 when the Railroad moved to a free and voluntary permit system. The Railroad told the Landmine that the Railroad holds “exclusive use rights” to their right-of-way, and that AS 42.40.420 in the Alaska Railroad Corporation Act allows the Railroad to authorize trails within that right-of-way.

Municipal plats dating back to 1971 indicate that Haxby’s property, which he purchased in 2018, ends at the edge of the Railroad right-of-way and does not extend into it. Haxby does not pay municipal taxes on land beyond his established property line.

Despite the questionable nature of Haxby’s land ownership claims, there is little doubt that he has leveraged considerable resources and political connections to halt the Fish Creek Trail Connection project. To aid his efforts, Haxby engaged Winfluence Strategies and Consulting, whose two-person team includes Representative-elect Chuck Kopp. Haxby and Winfluence have met with Marathon and have walked the project site with Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance. Haxby and Kopp separately told the Landmine that they had contacted and engaged with members of Governor Mike Dunleavy’s (R – Alaska) Office regarding the trail. Haxby told the Landmine that Alaska DOT&PF Commissioner Ryan Anderson visited his house, and at that time expressed strong disapproval for the trail.

Political donation records show that Haxby has also made a number of large donations to government officials in recent years. These include $500 donations to both Senator Matt Claman (D – Anchorage) and Chuck Kopp in 2024, $17,000 in three separate donations to then-Senator and incoming Representative Mia Costello between 2022 and 2024, and a $3,300 donation to the 2024 U.S. House campaign of Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom (R – Alaska).

The web of political connections that could underlie the halting of the Fish Creek Trail Connection project is complex, but most trail advocates who spoke with the Landmine suspect that the “pencils down” order came from the upper levels of state government.

“I think the most plausible explanation [for the halting of the Fish Creek Trail Connection project] is that Haxby or McCarrey has a connection to the governor,” Representative Fields told the Landmine.

“We call on DOT&PF leadership to provide an immediate and comprehensive explanation…”

At the TAC meeting, individuals and representatives from community organizations expressed shock and outrage over the notion that, behind closed doors, a single person or small group of people had apparently put the brakes on a multimillion-dollar trail project planned for decades and overwhelmingly supported by the community.

In a December 9 letter addressed to Alaska DOT&PF officials, Bike Anchorage executive director Alexa Dobson stated, “The entire room was shocked to hear of the project’s disruption, because it appears to have sidestepped the public process entirely. As of this writing, the official project website contains no information about the project being ‘on hold,’ and we can locate no press releases, social media posts, newsletters, interviews, or any other form of public communication indicating DOT&PF’s change to the project status. This is a public project, funded by public dollars, intended to benefit the public. As such, it demands full public transparency.”

Dobson called on DOT&PF to provide a comprehensive explanation for the project’s termination. Few additional clues about what happened have emerged since the TAC meeting last week, leaving trail advocates frustrated and unsure of how to direct their efforts.

A representative from Anchorage mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s office told the Landmine that the mayor supports trails, recognizes the need for a safe north-south trail in the Fish Creek area, and takes the concerns of affected parties seriously. The e-mail stated that the city would be sending letters to J.L. McCarrey and John Haxby clarifying its position later this week.

The Landmine contacted Marathon Petroleum to ask whether any member of Alaska government had told Marathon the company would face consequences if they did not oppose the current Fish Creek Trail Connection plan. Marathon repeatedly declined to answer the question, instead offering a generic statement consistent with earlier public statements.

Alaska DOT&PF Commissioner Ryan Anderson did not answer a December 8 e-mail asking about his role in the project shutdown and about the accuracy of Haxby’s characterization of their meeting.

Governor Dunleavy’s office did not respond to a December 5 e-mail asking whether the Governor or Governor’s office were involved in the halting of the project.

“Everybody loves it now.”

Following the Landmine’s initial reporting on the McCarrey family’s efforts to block the Fish Creek Trail Connection last year, the Landmine spoke with Heather Flynn about the history of Anchorage’s nonmotorized trails. Flynn served on the Anchorage Assembly for a decade during the 80s and 90s, and was instrumental in the creation of the Chester Creek Trail and the Coastal Trail.

Flynn told the Landmine that she arrived in Alaska in 1968 and bought her first bicycle in 1969. Many Anchorage residents wanted safe biking options for themselves and their families, she said, but the city’s infrastructure was deficient and dangerous. The paved bike paths winding through Anchorage’s greenbelts today, she recounted, were then just a tangle of unimproved dirt paths and there were no safe crossings at major roadways.

Building the Coastal Trail was extraordinarily difficult due to resistance from Turnagain residents who were worried about safety and property values, she said. Bob Atwood, the longtime publisher of the Anchorage Times, was “totally and completely against [the trail].”

But once the Coastal Trail was complete, Flynn told the Landmine, residents began using it and the narrative changed almost overnight. The trail quickly became a source of neighborhood pride and one of the biggest selling points for homes in the area. Bob Atwood, she said with a laugh, could soon be found walking it almost daily.

“Even the grumpy old farts finally came around,” she said.