Anchorage Daily News

Upstream of the Ship Creek dam, Brea Herun and Austin Somaduroff skipped stones and dipped bare feet in the cold current. A breeze rippled Brea's dress and Austin had his jeans rolled up to the knees. Best friends since eighth grade, the 17-year-olds had a Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher day on Wednesday along the Ship Creek Trail.

Out of the creek and back on the pavement trail, they put on their "heelies" to semi-skate the trail.

"It definitely shows something more than Anchorage," Brea said of the newly connected 2.6 miles. "Shows you the wilderness and the city."

Wilderness might be a stretch, but greenbelt sure isn't. The Ship Creek Trail winds past warehouse yards offering loading dock views and along its namesake stream lined with fireweed. On Wednesday, sunlight kissed everything, from five spawning salmon, their silver long gone, to the circular ramp and bridges over the creek and Alaska Railroad trestle (see photo at right.)

Lori Schanche, city project manager for the trail, said the railroad required 23 feet of clearance above the tracks -- and said someone from the railroad used a tape measure to make sure.

It's a fine view from up there, where you can see how sweet creek and sweaty yards combine to make a trail that works.

Expensive too. The 2.6-mile trail cost $12 million, most of it federal transportation money, about $1 million from city bonds to cover a 9 percent local match and about $1.5 million from the railroad. Schanche said the narrow corridor, soil tests, hazardous waste tests, bridges, tunnel, rights of way purchases, complicated designs and increased construction quadrupled costs.

It's worth it.

On Wednesday, trail traffic included workers on lunch break, hard-driving cyclists, kids, a trio of nordic walkers making good time with a dog along, two people at creekside deep in earnest conversation, a runner wearing earphones and a smile and a man napping on a purple bench.

And through the trees, a bald eagle flew low over the creek, checking the menu.

The Ship Creek Trail makes the most of this section of the city. Now we need to keep connecting.

BOTTOM LINE: Ship Creek Trail is one more piece of a good work in progress.

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