In roughly two years, a ferry service linking Anchorage and Port MacKenzie will begin hauling passengers and vehicles across Knik Arm.

The new 2.6-mile route between Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough is seen as an important step in the development of the Port MacKenzie area’s economy and as lending support for a Knik Arm Bridge.

Longer-range plans, however, see the ferry service linking Anchorage and Kenai, and eventually at Point Possession once a road is built extending the Spur Highway that now terminates around Captain Cook State Recreation Area.

At the meetings of the Tri-Borough Commission and Peninsula Mayors Conference held Feb. 8 in Soldotna, city and borough officials were briefed by Lew Madden, the Mat-Su Borough’s project manager and owner’s representative, on the status of the twin-hulled catamaran ferry Susitna now in design and construction at Alaska Ship & Drydock Inc., in Ketchikan.

The ferry, Madden said, is designed to carry 20 vehicles, perhaps a few more “with careful packing,” and 114 passengers, though specifications call for it to have life-saving equipment for 127. Its unique design will permit it to break ice, giving the transportation system year-round capability.

  The Matanuska-Susitna Borough and the Office of Naval Research are funding the vessel.

“The Navy is very interested in this as a demonstrator for an advanced amphibious concept, so it is also spec’d for one M1A1 Tank, if you happen to have one you want to transport somewhere,” Madden said, drawing a few chuckles.

The $50 million, 195-foot ferry will displace 940 tons fully loaded.

Madden said there were firm plans to make runs between Anchorage and Kenai in the summer when ferry service begins. That trip of about 72 miles would take hours even at 20 knots. If the borough sees its road plans come to fruition, however, a ferry port could be built at Point Possession connecting Anchorage to a Spur Highway extension leaving travelers just 40 or so miles to drive to reach Kenai, a significantly shorter trip than the drive around Turnagain Arm and over Turnagain Pass.