Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced on September 21 that the federal money for the proposed bridge from Ketchikan (pop. 14,000) to Gravina Island (pop. 50) would be used for other state transportation projects. The move ensured that the controversial bridge will not be built. Governor Palin (and private investors, see previous diary), however, still are pursuing a second "bridge to nowhere," the Knik Arm Bridge, which would connect Anchorage (pop. 260,000) to undeveloped Point Mackenzie (pop. 100).
While the AP coverage of the cancelled bridge focused on the loss of the project to the community of Ketchikan, the real issue is declining transportation dollars in Alaska. As this graph shows, the federal Highway Trust Fund -- the largest federal source of road money -- likely will be in deficit spending very soon unless the federal gasoline tax is increased. Alaska DOT Commissioner Leo von Scheben has stated that outlays from the Highway Trust Fund to states could be reduced by 25% beginning in 2009. This reduction will, of course, have impacts on needed bridge upgrades nationwide now widely acknowledged as a result of the Minneapolis bridge collapse. And due to recently-enacted federal earmark reforms and their own legal troubles, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and Congressman Don Young never will again have the power they once had to send federally-earmarked money to Alaska.
The proposed $398 million Gravina Bridge was one of former Governor Murkowski’s three proposed, costly mega-projects, the other two being the Juneau Road/Ferry project and the Knik Arm Bridge. The Juneau Road/Ferry project has an out-of-date cost estimate of nearly $300 million and the two-phase Knik Arm Bridge will cost over $1 billion (not including future inflation and unplanned cost overruns).
Alaska DOT estimates that the annual cost for existing Alaska highway and bridge maintenance (fixing potholes, earthquake- and global warming-induced cracks and other road problems, etc.) and preservation (preventive maintenance, e.g., on bridges) is over $540 million. With approximately $600 million in annual state transportation revenues, there is little room in the state transportation budget for transportation mega-projects with high, unknown costs.
Additionally, Alaska is the state most dependent on federal funding for transportation, using federal funds -- not local taxes -- even for most local roads. Because Alaska alone does not have any dedicated state funding source for transportation, transportation projects throughout the state – including maintaining and operating existing roads and public transit in urban areas – likely will face dramatically reduced funds unless property taxes or other revenue sources are increased or developed.
With federal funding in decline, the state doesn’t have the money for new transportation mega-projects of little merit, so Governor Palin was wise to cancel the Gravina Bridge project. The governor also needs to look carefully at the enormous cost and the financial trade-offs should the Juneau Road/Ferry and the Knik Arm Bridge mega-projects go forward, and ultimately decide to cancel these projects as well.