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Americans deserve to have our nation’s growing transportation needs and federal highway system funded by a responsible federal transportation bill – one that does not unfairly burden the taxpayer. But right now Congress is considering a bill that is far too large for the nation to swallow – jam-packed with last minute earmarks amounting to a massive pay-off for a list of costly, wasteful and environmentally-damaging projects.
If the House transportation bill, H.R. 3, is enacted into law, it will mean a mind-blowing cost of $1,151 per Alaskan for transportation spending. Under the same bill, the average American would get just $44 in transportation spending. In total, Alaskans get back about $7 for every $1 they pay into the gas tax. So what’s all this money being spent on? Controversial and unnecessary roads and bridges to nowhere. Here are a few examples of earmarks in H.R. 3:
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Photo
of the Gravina Airport Shuttle Ferry, meeting one of the six daily planes
that service the city of Ketchikan, pop. 8,000: Mike Sallee, May 2005 |
THE
GRAVINA BRIDGE: $223 MILLION
Construction of the Gravina Bridge would link the city of Ketchikan on Revilla
Island and the city’s airport on Gravina Island. Already a recipient
of a “Golden Fleece” award from Taxpayers for Common Sense, the
Gravina Island Bridge will have impacts on taxpayers’
wallets and the wild road-free watersheds of the Tongass National Forest.
The bridge, which would be nearly as long as the Golden Gate Bridge, and higher
than the Brooklyn Bridge, would replace a 7-minute ferry ride to the local
airport. In the past year alone, cost estimates for the project have risen
another 37% to $315 million and Alaskans are expecting US taxpayers to foot
the bill.
KNIK ARM BRIDGE: $200 MILLION
Construction of the Knik Arm Bridge would connect the city of Anchorage to
hundreds of square miles of unpopulated wetlands. The project would also impact
feeding grounds for the rare Cook Inlet Beluga Whale, a species of special
concern. Preliminary cost estimates for the over 2-mile-long crossing are
upwards of $1.5 billion. Even the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce has raised
serious questions about the project.
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Photo
of an avalanche along the proposed Juneau Access Road route: Scott Logan, March 12, 2005 |
JUNEAU
ACCESS ROAD: $15
This brand new 68-mile, $281-million road would compromise the integrity of
Berners Bay – an area of incredible ecological significance in the heart
of the Tongass National Forest dedicated by Congress to “remain roadless
and wild in character” and Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park.
Residents of all three of the affected communities: Juneau, Haines and Skagway,
are currently on record as opposing the road and instead support
improvements to the Alaska Marine Highway System, a designated National Scenic
Byway.
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Photo
of the proposed Bradfield Canal Road Route, in one of the most wild
roadless areas in the Tongass National Forest: Matt Davidson, 2002 |
BRADFIELD
CANAL ROAD: $7 MILLION
The road would cross some of the worlds challenging terrain, connecting Southeast
Alaska with a remote corner of British Columbia, but our Canadian neighbors
aren’t fans of the project. Already five BC communities have officially
opposed the proposed road for fear that it would funnel resources out of Canada.
The benefits of the proposed road to the US are questionable at best. The
$7 million earmark would buy yet another study on the road, despite the fact
that the Alaska Department of Transportation has already found that, “[W]e
have no compelling reasons to spend more public money on more detailed corridor
studies. The project won't work.”
For
more information contact the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project,
(907) 209-0082, emily@aktransportation.org
