Alaska needs other, more important things than the “Bridge to Nowhere”.
For example - Anchorage is out of room to grow. It is surrounded by ocean and mountains on three sides and an Army base on the 4th side. Build a bridge across Knik Arm and develop Pt. McKenzie. Now THAT would be a good idea.
Alaska is a very young state, and has not had the huge amounts of federal dollars spent on infrastructure the lower 48 has. So it makes sense that they be allowed to catch up some.
Ketchikan has NO road access to it's airport, they must depend on a ferry to get to it. Such a situation would NEVER be tolerated down south. It is Alaska's 5th largest city, has no roads connecting it to anywhere, ships take a looong time to get anywhere, so the airport is much, much more important there than elsewhere.
It is certainly reasonable to see why any city would want fast, reliable access to their only connection to the rest of the world.