Photos: Exploring the never-used Point MacKenzie railroad extension

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An overlook above Port MacKenzie commands a 360 degree view of Point MacKenzie, Cook Inlet and Anchorage a few miles away. Photographed Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016.

Alaskans have spent $184 million on the Point MacKenzie Rail Extension Project but it is $120 million short of completion. To give a sense of scale, the income tax Gov. Bill Walker has proposed to help balance the budget would raise $200 million.

The rail spur was supposed to connect the little-used Port MacKenzie, just across Knik Arm from the Port of Anchorage, to the main Alaska Railroad line near Houston, a distance of 32 miles.

But the lines don't connect. Alaska Dispatch News columnist Charles Wohlforth rode the railbed on his bike.

Read more: New Alaska rail line just ends in a forest after consuming $184 million