***This article first published June 12, 2003 when TCS was the first to shed light on the "Bridge to Nowhere"***
Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is trying to sell taxpayers a $190-million, one-mile bridge from the town of Ketchikan, Alaska on Revillagigedo Island to Gravina Island, a sparsely populated island on the southern end of the Alaskan Peninsula. This bridge is purportedly meant to replace the ferryboats which adequately handle passenger traffic between the islands. Far from being beneficial to the local economy, the bridge would jeopardize Ketchikan's largest industry: tourism. But, the real motive behind this boondoggle is to pave the way for well-connected timber interests to clear the island of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of old-growth forests.
Project Purpose: Industry Payoff or Practical Planning?
Project contractors aver that Gravina Access Project would serve "to improve surface transportation between Revillagigedo (Revilla) Island and Gravina Island," yet prior to the bridge proposal, there had been few complaints on record from local residents about the seven-minute ferry ride to Gravina. Despite the Ketchikan Gateway Borough's insistence that the bridge is necessary to provide more convenient access to the Ketchikan Airport, local opponents of the project point out that there are much simpler ways to make airport travel more convenient, while also avoiding major safety concerns and saving hundreds of millions in taxpayers dollars...
(Read the full TCS write-up: June 12, 2003)
(View the original Press Release: June 12, 2003)
(Project Update, February 9, 2005 -- The Gravina Access Project: A Bridge to Nowhere)
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