Knik Arm Bridge

The idea of a bridge or causeway across Knik Arm was first envisioned in 1923 by Alaska Railroad engineers looking for a more efficient route to Alaska's interior.[2] In 1955, a group of Anchorage businessmen studied it again, arriving at a cost estimate of $25 million ($240 million today).[2] The 1968 Seward's Success proposal, an $800 million ($5.9 billion today) multi-phased megaproject encompassing a large domed community, included both an aerial tramway and monorail to span the Knik Arm.[3]

In 2003, the Alaska Legislature created the Knik Arm Bridge And Toll Authority (KABATA), to develop a method of construction, financing, design, operation and maintenance of the bridge.[4] By 2010, KABATA had completed the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and had obtained a "build" Record of Decision from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

View of area from space. The bridge would cross from the city to Point MacKenzie, Alaska the green area to the NW of the gray city of Anchorage

Many Government Hill residents oppose the plan since many of the options presented would bisect the neighborhood and raze parts of it.[5] Some opponents argue the bridge is a "pork-barrel project" because it was tied to the Gravina Island Bridge in its $450 million plus funding legislation.[6] There is also concern it could threaten a population of beluga whales despite receiving a biological opinion of 'no jeopardy' from the National Marine Fisheries Service.[7] Interconnecting with existing Anchorage freeways and other arteries presents an additional challenge.

Original funding for the Knik Arm Bridge was provided by an earmark written by Don Young. The same bill funded the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere."

The Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority (KABATA) came under scrutiny in September 2006 when reports surfaced that its lead staff had received 20% to 30% raises at an executive session in August, raising to a typical salary of $130,000 per year. KABATA produced a 14-minute video which cost $57,490 including airtime.[8]

Former Governor Sarah Palin has been criticized for supporting the project, with one attorney for an environmentalist group suggesting she only supports it because it serves the area that she comes from.[9] Palin's running mate in the 2008 presidential election John McCain opposes the bridge, calling the bill funding it and the Gravina Island Bridge a "monstrosity" that was "terrifying in its fiscal consequences".[9]

In 2011, the city of Anchorage filed a lawsuit to force the federal government to drop its green light for the controversial Knik Arm bridge project, arguing that it would hurt the Port of Anchorage.[10]

Some critics have expressed a belief that the toll revenue estimates provided to rationalize construction are unrealistic, as well.[11]

Because of all of the concerns, the demise of the project has been expected for years.[12] Funding for the project has been repeatedly removed from the state budget by Governor Bill Walker.[13][14]

Supporters of the bridge believe that the bridge would allow the growing population of the region to expand into the Point MacKenzie area.[15] The approach road and connectors, along with the bridge total about 10 miles (16 km) from Downtown Anchorage, about the same commuting distance as other available land in Anchorage. The residents of the Matanuska/Susitna Valley currently have only a single road to get to and from Anchorage and points south and Anchorage residents only have a single route to all points north. The Parks Highway which runs through Willow, Alaska, Houston, Alaska and Wasilla, joins the Glenn Highway, which continues along a strip of land between Chugach State Park and the military bases north of Anchorage. The Knik Arm Bridge and connecting roads would provide a secondary north/south roadway to Wasilla. There is however concern that the only paved connecting road on the Matanuska/Susitna Borough side of the bridge, which is the Knik Goose Bay Road, is presently overcapacity and listed as one of the four most dangerous roads in the state.[16] The commuting distance for the vast majority of all existing residents of the Matanuska/Susitna Valley would not be lessened by taking the Knik Arm Bridge, a factor that Bridge critics say make KABATA's current revenue forecasts from the Bridge Tolls overstated.[17]

In 2009, Anchorage Metro Area Transportation Solutions (AMATS) decided to postpone the project and remove it from Anchorage's short term transportation plan until 2018. The cities of Houston and Wasilla responded with a lawsuit because AMATS did not have the authority to delay the project, which is a National Highway System route.[19] In March 2010, the AMATS Policy Committee with new members, reversed their previous decision and re-instated the bridge into the short term transportation plan.[20]

In December 2010 the FHWA issued a "Record of Decision" accepting the Environmental Impact Statement, after over seven years and approximately $53 Million spent on studies, preliminary designs, public relations and cost estimating.[21] KABATA has stated that they have asked their Toll and Revenue Consultant Wilbur Smith Associates [22] to re-visit their revenue and toll forecasts to reflect conditions that have changed since 2005, including revised population estimates for the Matanuska Susitna Borough by the University of Alaska Anchorage's Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER), that are as much as 50% lower than those forecasts used in the EIS to show that the Toll Bridge was "financially feasible".

Alaska State Senator Linda Menard and House Representative Mark Neuman introduced a set of companion bills in 2011 to establish a project reserve fund and clarify that the project is an infrastructure project backed by the state. These changes were necessitated by the national 2008 financial crisis. It would allow the state to repay the private investors when toll revenue is building up in early years after opening.[23]

Senate Bill 079 set aside $150 Million into a "reserve fund",paid by the State General Funds to cover the estimated deficits for the first three years.[24] Senate Bill 080 says KABATA bonds will now be "obligations of the state."[25]

KABATA CFO Kevin Hemenway told the Legislature's transportation committees that if the reserve fund dropped far enough "it would be subject to appropriation for replenishment."[26]

The bills passed the House but stalled in the Senate.

In 2013 a legislative audit found that KABATA had overestimated potential revenue from tolls, leading to a decision to place the organization under the direct control of the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, essentially stripping KABATA of any independent authority. The move is also expected to significantly slow the project, with AHFC explicitly rejecting any sort of timetable for completion.[27]

The day after KABATA was merged into AHFC the funding bill was passed, obligating the state for $1.14 billion for the project.[28]

On December 15, 2014 Governor Bill Walker announced the revised capital budget. It cut $45 million for the Knik Arm Project from the capital budget, that was created by the previous administration under Gov. Sean Parnell.[13]

In 2018, the Alaska legislature included funding to restart the now dormant project, but the funding was again vetoed by Governor Walker.[14] With no funding the project is effectively dormant for the foreseeable future.

• Knik Arm ferry, a failed alternative plan for crossing Knik Arm

• Anchorage Daily News
• Map of proposed routes
• Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority: the official project web site