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Now that the Republicans have placed a woman (Gov. Sarah Palin) on the national ticket, 24 years after the Democratic Party, folks seem to wonder again about the Bridge to Nowhere. One of the bridges is in Ketchikan. The other is the Knik bridge which would have connected Anchorage to Senator Lisa Murkowski’s designated new home. [see update to this, below]

But the Ketchikan bridge is the principle one in the spotlight with Sarah Palin’s new role as vice-presidential nominee, the McCain-Palin ticket.

Proposed Gravina Island bridge going nowhere | APRN
Sep 21, 2007 … Governor Palin announced today that the state is abandoning plans to construct the Gravina bridge. One of the two infamous bridges to …

http://aprn.org/2007/09/21/proposed-gravina-island-bridge-going-nowhere/

location map of the Bridge to Nowhere Alaska
“Ketchikan
(KETCH-ih-kan)”
http://www.commerce.state.ak.us/dca/commdb/CIS.cfm?Comm_Boro_Name=Ketchikan

Here is a link to the map and story about the other nowhere bridge (the one to Sen Murkowski and shortcut to Wasilla)
Alaska Congressmen Attempt to Earmark ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ For Personal Profiteering

PS– It’s PAY-lin

[revised 2008-08-31] Gov Palin did NOT reject the pork from Sen. Stevens. She said there wasn’t enough money to finish the bridge so directed the same nowhere money to other road system projects. Good for the road system, which cover less than 1/3 of the state.

Under mounting political pressure over pork projects, Congress stripped the earmark – or stipulation – that the money be used for the airport, but still sent the money to the state for any use it deemed appropriate.

The state took much of that for other projects around the state.

Palin on Friday said the Ketchikan project was $329 million short of full funding.

“It’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island,” Palin said…

The DOT will prepare a list of projects across the state where the $36 million in federal funds that was set aside for Gravina Island could be used. […]

http://dwb.adn.com/news/alaska/story/9320482p-9235189c.html

[revised again]
I’m not on the road system so miss a lot of the bridge’s history. Here is a summary from Mudflats,
Palin is McCain’s Bridge to Nowhere. Thanks, But No Thanks.

2009-01-31 “New cost estimate for Knik Arm bridge: $680 million (Daily News politics blog): The bridge authority has long used a rough estimate of between $450 million and $600 million for spanning Knik Arm between Anchorage and Point MacKenzie.”
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/newsreader/story/673205.html

2008-09-04 Posts specific to Palin info–
https://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/where-is-palin-and-bridge-to-nowhere-alaska/
https://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/todd-palin-sarah-palins-husband-and-rural-alaska-living/
https://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/where-is-wasilla-gov-sarah-palins-residence/
https://ykalaska.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/sarah-palin-content/

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