With the pick of Alaska's Governor, Sarah Palin, as Republican John McCain's running mate, there has been some rehashing of the so-called Bridge to Nowhere. This label of the project aggravates me to no end, so I thought I would give the non-Alaskan readers of this blog a little education on the subject.
The Gravina Island Bridge (also known as The Bridge to Nowhere) was a proposed bridge to replace the ferry that currently connects Ketchikan, Alaska, to the Ketchikan International Airport on Gravina Island. The bridge was projected to cost $398 million. Members of the Alaskan congressional delegation, particularly Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens, were the bridge's biggest advocates in Congress and helped push for federal funding. The project encountered fierce opposition outside of Alaska as a symbol of pork barrel spending and was widely labeled "the bridge to nowhere".
The project was canceled in 2007 by its supporter Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who changed her view after Congress forced the funds to be used elsewhere:
"Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer. Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Much of the public’s attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here. But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened."
The following is a quote from a response to a "letter to the editor" type article on www.sitnews.us by Robert Glenn from New York, NY from Jerilyn Lester, Ketchikan, AK.
"The people of Ketchikan think it was "the promised bridge." When they put our airport on another island we were promised a bridge. That was 30 years ago and we have not seen it and thanks to people like you who have bridges to everywhere we are probably not going to see it.
Thanks to Senator Stevens and our other representatives we do have a few dollars sent our way but you that live in the Lower 48 forget that we have needs too. Since we have not had the opportunity of 200 years to build our state structure , we as Alaskans are trying but we keep getting told that we don't need what we think we need.
When you come up to Ketchikan, you will see the need for the bridge. I would like to see your infrastructure get along without logging your forests or your bridges and tunnels that go from the islands in your state. I have lived there and I know what kind of bridges and tunnels you have so please don't tell us we don't need something when you have an over abundance of them or until you come here to live. "
