Despite the quotes from the 'disappointed', many locals are relieved. The sized of the project was comparable to the Golden Gate Bridge...... to serve a population of around thirteen thousand. .
Posted on 09/22/2007 11:28:50 AM PDT by skeptoid
Some called it a bridge to the future. Others called it the bridge to nowhere.
The bridge is going nowhere.
On Friday, the state abandoned the controversial project in Ketchikan that became a national symbol of federal pork-barrel spending.
It closes a chapter that has brought the state reams of ridicule, but it also leaves open wounds in a community that fought for decades to get federal help.
"We went through political hot water -- tons of it -- and not just nationally but internationally," said Ketchikan-Gateway Borough Mayor Joe Williams. "We have nothing to show for it."
The $398 million bridge would have connected Ketchikan to its airport on a sparsely populated Gravina Island.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
Despite the quotes from the 'disappointed', many locals are relieved. The sized of the project was comparable to the Golden Gate Bridge...... to serve a population of around thirteen thousand. .
If the state doesn’t think it important enough to build the bridge, the feds don’t have any business funding it.
What do you expect!! A stupidly nothing project that saved the tax payers a lot of money by not falling for it.
Next time pick something worth while and maybe we'll talk!!
Return Alaska’s tax revenue to Alaska.
So you can finish that sidewalk?
They shouldn’t be taking it in the first place.
But “I want my pork too.” doesn’t fly for me.
Also, who cares about ANWR? Not Alaska, that’s for sure. It’s on Fed land and almost all the revenue will be headed Outside to Louisiana and other porky States.
Return Alaska’s revenue to Alaska. Dumping it down the drain in Louisiana doesn’t make sense.
I agree with you.
But not in the form of wasteful pork projects.
Gravina is a good project. I would rather see the funds go to the Interior than to further development in Southcentral or Juneau, but that’s probably because the Interior is the hub of transportation to much of Alaska and on the future land route to Asia.
I got to admit this is the first time I heard about a airport being on the other side. What surprised me was that the bridge is only 1200 feet long, 329 million,Damn!
They need to get as much as they can from the state and float a bond election.
There are two main forces in Alaska. One is pro-development, the other is anti-development. The Republican/Democrat/Green political parties tend to follow this division. The antis are relieved since they prefer their population to not grow and especially no industry to appear, and please send the PFD check as soon as possible. The pros want to see development and industry and please send the PFD check as soon as possible.
It’s not a local issue since Ketchikan is the gateway to Alaska. The USA does not want Alaska’s resources developed.
Then it’s an Alaska issue, they’re should do what all the other states do and try to get what ever they can from the feds and spend it on what the people of Alaska want to spend it on. It’s always priorities that rule.
The current Airport Ferry crosses a channel that is 1,200 feet across.
The now defunct 3.5-mile bridge project (TWO bridge spans totaling about 1.2 miles of bridge spans, approach ramp and intermediate road) is shown below as the dashed yellow line. It was the 3.5-mile $398 million Bridge to Nowhere project.
The solid orange line is the road that is now being constructed(it WAS earmarked) and it is 3.4 miles long
The above map from the State of Alaska DOT is a reduced satellite image from maps.google (or google earth, I imagine). It's a fantastic detail of Ketchikan and environs; I've even found 4 aircraft in flight on the image.
Also on this satellite image you can zoom in on the Airport Ferry route. It's at the middle of the airport, and there are two ferries in service this fine summer day; one on each loading terminal.
The distance between the terminals is 1,200 feet, although the ferry takes an S-turn route in order to line up with the ramps.
"... takes a slightly longer S-turn route ... "
Cripes, it takes me over an hour to drive to the Philly airport. Assuming traffic isn't a problem.
So cry me a river over a 15-minute ferry ride.
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