Gravina Island Bridge
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The Gravina Island Bridge is a proposed bridge to replace the ferry that currently connects Ketchikan, Alaska (population 8,000) to developable land on Gravina Island (population 50) and improve access to Ketchikan International Airport.
The project has been met with fierce opposition and has been labeled the "Bridge to Nowhere." It has been cited by Senator John McCain of Arizona as an example of pork-barrel spending in the 2005 Transportation Equity Act. This $223 million bridge would cost approximately $27,700 per person in the region, or 4.5 million for each of the 50 current residents of the island.
Media coverage of the bridge issue has focused on the secondary purpose put forward by the State of Alaska's official documentation, that of providing road access to the Ketchikan International Airport, and has called into question the document's declared primary purpose, that of providing access to developable lands on Gravina Island. Critics of the media coverage claim bias. They note that current townsite of Ketchikan has no developable land left due to local topography. Critics also complain that the media confuses the situation by stating that the bridge would only service the 50 residents of Gravina Island, forgetting the 8,000 residents of Ketchikan.
The Knik Arm Bridge, which is also labeled as a "pork-barrel project" and tied to the Ketchikan Bridge (unfairly from point of view of residents of Anchorage and the Knik Arm area), would cost approximately $1,500 per person served, would be one mile long, and would allow the population of Anchorage (which has very little developable land remaining) to expand beyond its current size.
Alaska Senator Ted Stevens became the object of media ridicule when in October, 2005 he vehemently opposed diverting the Gravina and Knik Arm Bridge funds to help aid recovery from Hurricane Katrina. In his speech on the senate floor, Stevens threatened to quit Congress if the funds were removed from his state [link].
Republicans in Congress dropped the specific allocation for the two bridges, but the amount of money appropriated to Alaska remains unchanged. Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski plans to fully fund both bridges: "I am proposing we spend the maximum allowed."[link]
A ferry runs to the island every 15 minutes, but service can be interrupted by bad weather. According to USA Today[link], the bridge will be nearly as long as the Golden Gate Bridge and higher than the Brooklyn Bridge.
External links
- [Alaska DOT Official site]
- Salon.com, 9 August, 2005, ["A bridge to nowhere"]
- [Taxpayers for Common Sense (opposition)]
- [TollRoads.com]
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