Have you ever hiked the bridge to nowhere in Alaska? A proposed Alaska bridge that became a symbol of wasteful federal spending on politicians' pet projects has officially been scrapped a decade after the idea was first floated, state officials said on Friday. of a hurricane-damaged bridge in Louisiana. 662: Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2011, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gravina_Island_Bridge&oldid=1101616620, Buildings and structures in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, Political controversies in the United States, Transportation in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, Articles with dead external links from January 2018, Articles with permanently dead external links, Short description is different from Wikidata, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Articles containing potentially dated statements from December 2006, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 31 July 2022, at 23:56. But the "Road to Nowhere" is alive and well. Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and its clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. This is the sort of challenge that fiscally Your first glimpse of the bridge is astonishingits much larger and majestic than youd expectbut the weirdness doesnt stop here. In the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies at The Heritage While the move closes a chapter that has brought the state reams of ridicule, it also leaves open wounds in a community that fought for decades to get federal help. News, Dave Person wrote, "Thinking about the immense its remote location makes it a rare tourist sigh - bridge to nowhere stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images According to Alaskan state officials, the road project went ahead because the money came from the federal government, and would otherwise have had to be returned. [26] On January 17, 2007, she sent a revised budget to the president of the Alaska Senate that would restrict capital spending and rescinded the $185 million state share of the bridge funding.[27]. Behind the Bridge to Nowhere Ketchikan Alaska As We See It - Through Photographs Fiction Condition: Very Good From a smoke free / Pet free environment If there is a problem with your item once you receive it. [36][37] These claims have been widely questioned or described as misleading in several newspapers across the political spectrum. Taking the ferry from Ketchikan, AK to the airport which is on Gravina Island AKA "nowhere."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravina_Island_Bridgehttp://www.boro. Have the bridge to nowhere in Alaska, a $233 million bridge to an island with 50 people on it, or a $1,000 tax credit for every child in America?" DOT officials at the time said that if they didn't then continue with the bridge, they might be required to pay back to the federal government the $28 million it spent on the road. But ferry access isn't likely to provide the kind of developable land Ketchikan needs, he said. How can we help to get that bridge to no where? Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. JUNEAU -- The name "Bridge to Nowhere" still rankles in Ketchikan 10 years after congressional opponents of earmarks used it to attack federal money for the bridge to nearby Gravina Island and the city's airport. Bridge to Nowhere could not happen again, Schumer says One Sunday not that - couple of years ago, on the front of Parade, the insert in everybody's Sunday newspaper was the picture of the bridge. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. In stump speeches, Alaska Gov. Remember Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere," a $400 million span that was supposed to connect Ketchikan to its airport on sparsely inhabited Gravina Island? [10] The bridge would cross the Tongass Narrows, part of Alaska's Inside Passage, so the bridge was designed to be tall enough to accommodate ship traffic, including the Alaska Marine Highway and the cruise ships that frequent Alaskan waters during the summer. LOL. iReport.com: Are you in a battleground state? SIEGEL: Today, Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Republican of South Carolina, writes an op-ed page piece in the Wall Street Journal, which he says, yeah, she was for it but then after she realized the problem with earmarks, Governor Palin was against it. Perhaps the Port and the City team up and construct a bridge near Harbor Square. On the Road to Nowhere: Abandoned Bridges - Atlas Obscura SIEGEL: Was there any moment in Governor Palin's handling of this appropriation that can be construed as her saying thanks, but no thanks? This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened.". money for the bridges to nowhere and Congress will apply the money She killed the Bridge to Nowhere - that is correct. Ketchikan, do not value the Gravina Island bridge project, its Engineers planned to build a direct route from the San Gabriel Valley to Wrightwood, but they finished this mid-point bridge near Azusa long before they built its connecting byways. [18], In September 2006, during her campaign for Governor, Sarah Palin visited Ketchikan to express her support for the Gravina Island Bridge project. It spans a deep gorge overlooking the lovely Garry beach, one of the prettiest in the Outer Hebrides. Alaska 'bridge to nowhere' funding gets nowhere / Lawmakers delete Drive 11.6 miles north, passing the East Fork Ranger Station at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. state-by-state allocation formula. Well this helps put a face to the name. Anchorage Daily News, Diane Mucha of Eagle River wrote, "Of There were a few different options created for the bridge and Im not sure what the final decision was as I moved from the area a few years ago, but I know several of the plans had the bridge quite a ways south of town, which would mean having to build a new road over on Gravina through an area that is not currently developed. The bridge to nowhere - sometimes called Garry Bridge lies beyond the Tolsta Village - and is on the route of what was to be Lord Leverhulme's new route to Ness. Alaska's 'bridge to nowhere' plan finally scrapped Miles Glacier Bridge is a four-span through truss bridge located in the U.S. state of Alaska. Images taken 8-19-07. 662 passed both houses of Congress and became Public Law 112-5. The controversy began with the 2006 National Appropriations Bill, an omnibus spending bill covering transportation, housing, and urban development for the following year. The hike starts out weaving in and out the trees beneath the shaded cover of a well maintained path. Meadow on one side, meadow on the other. for the hurricane relief efforts. In advertisements, McCain labeled the bridge as wasteful spending,[43] and in an August 2007 town hall speech recorded on video[44] and quoted again on April 30, 2008,[45] he blamed the Minneapolis I-35 bridge collapse on the Gravina Island Bridge. Times Staff Writer. would be to return the money earmarked for our Gravina Bridge. Foundation. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. What some people might not realize is that Bridge to Nowhere was actually part of a major infrastructure project. Ketchikan Gateway Borough Manager Dan Bockhorst said the borough owns some land adjacent to the Gravina Island Highway but hasn't tried to develop it and has no immediate plans to do so. Thanks for the Ketchikan perspective. Kids on an outing in the forest come up against a mysterious hermit who lives on the other side of a bridge, and he is definitely not happy to see them. I think were going to make a good team as we progress that bridge project" in response to an insult expressed by the state Senate president, Ben Stevens. The Daily Caller News Foundation is working hard to balance out the biased American media. Alaska's Ultimate Bridge to Nowhere - The Gilahina Trestle fades into winter, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. SIEGEL: 2004, April 10th, 2004 an article appears in the New York Times in which you're quoted. Gravina Island Highway: Ketchikan's "road to nowhere" (long, with photos) 3058 (109th): Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, -- GovTrack.us", "Stevens Vehemently Opposes Coburn Amendment to Eliminate Alaska Bridges", "Stevens says he'll quit if bridge funds diverted", "For a Senate Foe of Pork Barrel Spending, Two Bridges Too Far", "Palin touts stance on 'Bridge to Nowhere,' doesn't note flip-flop", "Palin criticized during gubernatorial campaign for her support of Gravina Island Bridge", "Palin voiced initial support for the proposed Gravina Island bridge during campaign", "Palin defends the bridge project, asks people to band together", "Palin Criticized during gubernatorial campaign for her support of Gravina Island Bridge", "Palin "bridge to nowhere" line angers many Alaskans", "DOT 'leaning' toward ferries; cites bridge cost", "Palin was for the bridge to nowhere before she was against it", "Congress earmark alteration for Alaska prompts Governor Palin's new state budget without bridge", "Lawmakers deal with voter anger over 'pork', "Ted Earmarked Funds for Bridge that Goes Nowhere", "Palin changed her mind for public expediency", "Alaska abandons controversial Ketchikan bridge project", "Record Contradicts Palin's 'Bridge' Claims", "Fact Check: Palin and the Bridge to Nowhere", "Account of a Bridge's Death Slightly Exaggerated", "As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts Before They're Undone", "McCain Blasts Palin's "Bridge to Nowhere", "McCain Blamed Bridge collapse on Bridge to Nowhere", "McCain connected 35W bridge collapse to Palin's pork", "Excerpts: Charlie Gibson Interviews GOP Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin", "Press picks over litter of lies on the Palin trail US Election", "Sarah Palin said yes, thanks, to a road to nowhere in Alaska", "Bailout Negotiations Continue; FBI Targets Wall Street Firms", "Palin Defends Construction of 'Road to Nowhere', H.R.662 - Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2011, "Gravina Access Project, Environmental Impact Statement, Figure 2.10, Alternative F1, Bridges (200' East and 120' West), Between Tongass Avenue and Airport, via Pennock Island: Alignment".