http://www.floppingaces.net/2008/08/...lly-expedient/
The project has some federal money but is short about $300 million. No one expects Congress to kick in any more cash, and most legislators aren’t willing to open up the state checkbook. So the likely place to find $300 million is from the pockets of users. But we’re not talking about dropping a few coins into a toll basket. Get ready to dig into your wallet and pull out a lot of bills to drive on a long approach ramp to climb 200 feet in the air on one bridge, then down on a middle island, then up 120 feet in the air on a second bridge to reach the airport island, and down again on another long ramp. Or just leave it as is, and ride the shuttle ferry a few minutes for the short walk to the terminal.
At that point, Palin was still allowing design and feasibility to still go forward. So where are we now:
-She inherited the controversial project, knowing there was a need.
-The transition team’s reports showed the that project, plus another, were not fiscally responsible and the federal funding came no where close to paying for the bridge.
-She did not allocate any State monies for go ahead with the expensive bridge
-Many Alaskans, including those in Ketchikan, were also opposed to the bridge at that expense
-They were considering alternative methods.
Between the fiscal analyses, plus dissenting voices protesting the expense it would lay upon the taxpayers, is it any wonder that by September 2007,
Palin officially canned the Bridge to Nowhere project, to the criticism of it’s advocates.