Ding dong, the bridge is dead.

The $398 million “Bridge to Nowhere”, the Gravina Access Project from Ketchikan, Alaska to sparsely populated Gravina Island on the southern end of the Alaskan Peninsula, was finally killed last week.

The Bridge to Nowhere became the poster child for Congressional earmarking excess, and hopefully its demise will be the harbinger of greater restraint and transparency in federal budgeting. Along with former Representative Duke Cunningham (R-CA), the bridge has served as a much-needed beacon for earmark reform since Rep. Don Young (R-AK), then Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, added it at the eleventh hour of the highway bill debate.

Governor Sarah Palin (R-AK), our new favorite Governor, pulled the plug on this project and committed to finding a more “fiscally responsible” approach to improving access to the Ketchikan Airport on Gravina Island.  Gov. Palin plans to redirect the money not spent on the bridge to upgrade the ferry system and other projects that will result in cost-effective solutions to real transportation problems in the State.

Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and Rep. Young championed the project through Congress, securing more than $223 million for the bridge in the 2005 highway bill. Sen. Stevens this week said that the decision to redirect the funding earmarked for the Gravina Bridge to other state transportation needs could spark demands for the money to be returned. That would probably be just fine.  Taxpayers across the country have come to realize that Alaska gets $6 for every dollar in gas tax it contributes to the Highway Trust Fund, and are definitely getting more than their fair share.

When TCS gave the bridge a “Golden Fleece Award” four years ago, we didn’t know we were waking a sleeping giant. The bridge was propelled into the national spotlight, however, and the public became much more concerned about the issue of Congressionally directed earmarks.

But the work is far from over. In Alaska alone there is another bridge to nowhere that needs to be killed. The Alaska delegation continues to back the “Knik Arm Crossing”, renamed “Don Young’s Way” by Rep. Stevens in the 2005 highway bill. This bridge, which will be longer and much more expensive than the bridge to Gravina, also reaches a largely unpopulated region of Alaska that is currently difficult to access. Thought a private consortia has promised to pay for most of the project, the finances for this bridge are built on a foundation of sand.

The bridge is a developer’s dream, since it will open so many thousands of acres. The promise of a bridge has already created a modern gold rush of new land speculation in Alaska.  Alaska’s elite are buying up the land in the area where the bridge would terminate.

In scope and cost, the Knik bridge makes Gravina look tiny, with a span of about 2.6 miles and estimated cost of $400-$600 million. Engineering challenges could drive the price much higher, and the tidal forces and earthquake risks make the project even riskier. The project received more than $200 million in earmarks in the transportation bill, and Knik Crossing proponents insist a toll will pay for the rest of the project. It’s hard to believe enough drivers will pay the estimated $2.40 toll.  If they don’t, or if the price tag for the project rises significantly, it’s federal taxpayers who will be back on the hook to make up the shortfall.

We are glad that Gov. Palin has killed one boondoggle bridge, and we can only hope she does the same to the Knik Arm Crossing.

For more information, contact Steve Ellis at (202)-546-8500 ext. 126 or steve [at] taxpayer.net