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The November 6, 2005 issue of Parade reported: “Congress recently approved $223 million to build a bridge to a tiny island in Alaska. Such 'pork' projects—as well as some other allocations in the federal budget—raise an important question: Are Your Tax Dollars Being Wasted?”

Alaska residents can thank Rep. Don Young (and Republican Senator Ted 'Bridge to Nowhere' Stevens), who brought home $941 million worth of bacon...

From wikipedia:

The Gravina Island Bridge is a proposed bridge to replace the ferry that currently connects the city and borough of Ketchikan, Alaska (population 13,125) to the Ketchikan International Airport on Gravina Island.

The project has been met with fierce opposition[2] and has been labeled the "Bridge to Nowhere" by some in the media. It was cited by Senator John McCain of Arizona and others as a paradigmatic example of pork barrel spending in the 2005 Transportation Equity Act.

Media coverage of the bridge issue has focused on the secondary purpose put forward by the State of Alaska's official documentation, that of providing road access to the Ketchikan International Airport and has called into question the document's declared primary purpose — to provide access to developable lands on Gravina Island.[3]

Statistics show that Ketchikan's airport is the second largest in Southeast Alaska after Juneau International Airport accommodating over 200,000 passengers a year, while the ferry shuttles approximately a half million people in the same time period (as of December 2006) [4].

The ferry, which costs $5 per person plus $6 for the car (one way) [5], runs to the island every 30 minutes for most of the year. During the peak tourist season (May-September), a ferry runs every 15 minutes. The conservative Americans for Prosperity Foundation has posted a video on YouTube that was recorded during an August 2006 "Ending Earmarks Express" visit to Alaska. The video was shot on the ferry that currently connects Ketchikan to Gravina Island and claims to illustrate how unnecessary the proposed bridge is. [6]

According to USA Today the bridge will be nearly as long as the Golden Gate Bridge and higher than the Brooklyn Bridge.[7] Ketchikan's primary industry is tourism, so the bridge must be tall enough to accommodate the cruise ships which frequent the Alaskan waters during the summer.

Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska became the object of strong media criticism when in October 2005 he opposed diverting the Gravina and Knik Arm Bridge funds [8] to help aid recovery from Hurricane Katrina. In his speech on the senate floor, Stevens threatened to quit Congress if the funds were removed from his state.[9]

The US Congress dropped the specific allocation for the two bridges, but the amount of money appropriated to Alaska remained unchanged. Alaska's DOT is 'leaning' toward alternative ferry options citing bridge costs (August 2007), despite having received the funds from the Federal Government. [10].

The City of Ketchikan has already begun to develop roads and a small amount of infrastructure for the island's inhabitants. However, residents continue to seek funding for the Gravina Island span. [11].

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