Is the "Bridge to Nowhere" headed to oblivion?

One of the most egregious (and catchily named) examples of recent pork-barrel spending may be eliminated by the conference committee charged with reconciling the US House and Senate versions of the recent transportation bill.

The so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" would link Ketchikan, Alaska (population 8,900) to its airport on Gravina island (population 50) at a cost to federal taxpayers of $223 million. This would save all the travelers in Ketchikan the inconvenience of a 15-30 minute, $6 ferry ride. As you can imagine from its projected cost, this would be no ordinary bridge.

Rising 200 feet above water, almost twice as high as the 119-foot-high Brooklyn Bridge, the Gravina Island bridge will span 6,300 feet in two sections, crossing the Tongass Narrows to Ketchikan, a popular stop for cruise ships. It replaces a ferry that local residents and tourists now use to reach the airport on Gravina Island, which had also been home to a pulp mill that closed in 1997.

Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS), a non-partisan group advocating fiscal responsibility, reports that the Gravina bridge project will cost $23,649 per resident of Ketchikan's county to build; furthermore, projected annual operating costs are $43.15 per trip. And just to reiterate, the island is already accessible via a ferry which charges $6 per car or $4 per pedestrian.

The driving force behind the bridge's funding was Representative Don Young, the Republican Chairman of the House Transportation Committee. He was reported by the Anchorage Daily News as saying "I'd be silly if I didn't take advantage of my chairmanship...I think I did a pretty good job."

Unfortunately, reports suggest that, instead of simply withdrawing or reallocating the funding, the compromise bill will remove the "earmarks" that would compel Alaska to spend the money on the Gravina project. (The earmark for another bridge, a two-mile span in Anchorage to be called--and I swear this is true--"Don Young's Way," may also be removed.)

Not a complete victory for the forces of common sense, perhaps, but at least it's a reminder that grassroots outrage, voiced with sufficient volume, can still have some resonance in the corridors of power.

Tags: Alaska Transportation Bill Bridge to Nowhere Don Young Ted Stevens Fiscal Responsibility Government Spending Taxes Policy