70 homes, one way out: Wasilla weighs fixing a risky railroad crossing on Lucille Lake

More than 70 homes on the north shore of Lucille Lake have a single route in and out — a railroad crossing where the tracks sit about five feet above the Parks Highway, creating steep approaches, winter snow drifting, and a short merge into traffic. It's also the only way in for fire trucks, ambulances and police. Wasilla wants $5.25 million to replace it.

The project goes before the City Council on Monday. It would eliminate the Snyder Railroad Crossing — the neighborhood's sole vehicular link across the Alaska Railroad corridor — and instead study new connections to Hallea Lane or Railroad Avenue. The city's share would run about $470,000.

The crossing fix is one of four Wasilla transportation projects, worth $14.78 million together, that the council is nominating for federal funding through the region's new planning organization. The other three would close gaps in the city's streets and sidewalks: a multimodal pathway on Nelson Avenue, a sidewalk along Elkhorn Drive to Lucille Street, and a $6.53 million connection from Seward Meridian Parkway to Sun Mountain Avenue that would pull traffic off Whispering Woods Drive.

Nominating the projects doesn't fund them or spend any money yet — the local match would need separate council action, and the projects still have to clear the planning organization's selection process. That group, MatSu Valley Planning for Transportation, expects about $10 million a year in federal funds starting in 2027 and plans a public comment period on its draft program in November.