When Anchorage officials and outdoor recreation advocates gathered Saturday to ceremoniously mark the start of construction for a 1.3-mile section of trail near the city’s industrial port, they said they were taking a small step toward a big vision.
The connector will close a gap in the city’s existing network of paved bike trails and, supporters hope, eventually be part of what they call the “Alaska Long Trail,” an interlaced network spanning 500 miles from Fairbanks to Seward.
Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance characterized the Long Trail as a “dream trail connecting Seward to Fairbanks that will most definitely, most definitely, swing through downtown Anchorage.”…