JUNEAU, Alaska – The ‘bridge to nowhere’ may be headed somewhere, with Alaska’s outgoing governor planning to award a contract in his final days of office worth up to $30 million.
The contract would be for road work on Gravina Island leading to the planned bridge to Ketchikan in southeast Alaska. The $328 million project became a symbol of pork-barrel spending in Congress last year. That debate gave rise to the “nowhere” moniker that has angered residents who believe the bridge will expand the region’s economy.
Alaska Department of Transportation officials overseeing the project have been ordered to hurry the bidding process so that a contractor can be named on Dec. 1.
“That’s been our charge,” special-projects manager Jim Lowell said Friday.
The work, estimated by Lowell to be between $20 million and $30 million would not begin until next spring.
Gov. Frank Murkowski leaves office Dec. 4.
Even if this initial work is begun, a big hurdle remains: The project is $195 million short and state transportation officials wonder where the money will come from.
The Ketchikan bridge was originally funded at $223 million by Congress, but its federal earmarks were removed after a contentious debate last year. The money was sent to Alaska without the earmarks, and much of it was diverted to other projects.
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