$686 Million for Alaskan "Bridge to Nowh

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
$686 Million for Alaskan "Bridge to Nowh
25
Thu, 02-12-2009 - 2:13pm

$686 Million for Alaskan "Bridge to Nowhere"


A bridge connecting downtown Anchorage with a sparsely populated corner of Alaska's Mat-Su Borough would cost an estimated $686 million, according to a consultant's estimate prepared for the 49th state's Department of Transportation.



In September of 2007, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has canceled one of the bridges, which would have linked Ketchikan with neighboring Gravina Island.


But the Knik Arm project has continued to move forward.



"It says the Knik crossing project is laced with pricey, hard to anticipate risks that will have to be shared by the eventual, privately financed contractor and the 'owner' -- the state and the bridge authority -- if the crossing is to be feasible," the Anchorage Daily News reported on Wednesday.


The state's estimate pegs at $373 million the cost of building a two-lane bridge extending from near the Port of Anchorage to virtually unpopulated Point MacKenzie.


An additional $214 million would be required for roads on the Anchorage side, along with $99 million for roads on the Mat-Su side of the bridge.


The estimate did not furnish a worst-case/best-case cost range. However, the report did conclude that "(t)he design and construction risks for this project are extraordinarily high."



"At a time of declining oil revenues and federal funding for transportation, the state should not undertake a project of this scale with its 'extraordinarily high' financial risks," said Lois Epstein, director of the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, a watchdog group.


Mark Claman, Anchorage's Acting Mayor, told the Daily News, "I've always said the economic case for the bridge hasn't been made."


Full article at:  http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/seattlepolitics/archives/161823.asp


 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Thu, 02-12-2009 - 2:17pm
President Obama is in charge now, and will not waste taxpayer money.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Thu, 02-12-2009 - 3:15pm
Didn't Palin state she'd said, "No thank you.", to the money?
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-18-2000
Thu, 02-12-2009 - 3:18pm

You're on the wrong page......


>"They earmarked more than $450 million in federal money for the bridges. Congress lifted the earmark late in 2005, but decided nonetheless to give the state of Alaska the money.


In September of 2007, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has canceled one of the bridges, which would have linked Ketchikan with neighboring Gravina Island.


But the Knik Arm project has continued to move forward."<


Obama wasn't Pres. then.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Thu, 02-12-2009 - 5:21pm
Obama is President now, he can stop any federal spending which will result in waste.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Fri, 02-13-2009 - 1:15pm

Since it's already been given to the state of Alaska, short of getting Congress, through their 'powers of the purse',


iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Fri, 02-13-2009 - 3:41pm
President Obama and Democrats have control and will decide what to do with federal money.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2009
Fri, 02-13-2009 - 5:23pm

I'm not sure what you mean.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Fri, 02-13-2009 - 6:30pm
In the U.S. taking money back is called clawback.
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-22-2009
Fri, 02-13-2009 - 7:03pm

Would

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-23-2008
Fri, 02-13-2009 - 7:08pm
There was a TV documentary about Alaska's bridge to nowhere when Sarah Palin was running for Vice President.

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