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Where is Knik Arm?
Knik Arm is a branch of Cook Inlet, a 192 mile long estuary that stretches from the Gulf of Alaska between the Kenai Peninsula and mainland southcentral and southwestern Alaska. Knik Arm begins at the Inlet's northern edge, starting near the city of Anchorage and heading north and east (see Maps).
The proposed Knik Arm bridge would stretch approximately 2 miles from Point MacKenzie on the west (in the Mat-Su Borough) to Anchorage on the east.The crossing would be less then five miles north of the city, with a variety of proposed access roads linking Anchorage to the bridge.
What are the perceived needs for the bridge?
A Knik Arm bridge has been proposed to meet a variety of needs both for Anchorage and the nearby Mat-Su Borough.
These perceived needs include:
- Accessing cheap land for homes as the region's population grows.
- Improving the Anchorage region's economy with increased developable lands.
- Facilitating cargo movement between Anchorage and points north.
- Reducing commuter travel time between Anchorage and the Mat-Su Borough.
- Increasing safety through multiple entrance and exit points to Anchorage.
Can the needs be met in other ways?
Yes.
- Residential housing can be built in the Anchorage bowl in higher density housing/mixed-use developments, and affordable homes can be built throughout the Mat-Su Borough, not only near Point MacKenzie.
- The region's economic growth can and should occur throughout the Mat-Su Valley, not just near Point MacKenzie. Additionally, the Municipality of Anchorage has many areas of unused land, including land north of Anchorage in Eagle River, Chugiak, etc.
- Cargo can be moved north from Anchorage via ferry (with upgraded roads near Point MacKenzie), via the Alaska Railroad, and via the existing Glenn and Parks Highways.
- Commuter travel time can be reduced in many ways including: decreasing highway accidents, allowing travelers to work while riding on commuter rail and commuter ferries (e.g., by providing wireless service), easing parking restrictions for carpoolers, etc. Business development in the Mat-Su Valley itself will result in fewer commuters to Anchorage.
- Upgraded rail service and ferry service can facilitate entering and exiting Anchorage.
Will the bridge reduce commute times or relieve congestion?
No.
The vast majority of people commuting to Anchorage from the Mat-Su Valley will continue to drive the Glenn Highway because it will continue to be the faster, toll-free route into Anchorage. Only residents living in rural areas like Big Lake, Houston, and Point MacKenzie will find the bridge route more efficient. Additionally, the bridge will add to Anchorage downtown congestion.
How do communities know they need a bridge?
Historically, bridges were constructed when ferry service was unable to handle the number of people needing to cross a waterway. Ferry service has not yet begun across Knik Arm, but will begin in 2007.
Who will benefit from the bridge? Who will lose out?
Those who may benefit from the bridge include:
- Residential and industrial/commercial developers in the Point MacKenzie area
- Landowners in the Point MacKenzie area
- New homeowners in Point MacKenzie (but many of these homeowners will pay a daily toll to travel to work, reducing the financial gain from cheaper housing)
- Bridge-related construction firms
Those who may lose out from the bridge include:
- Downtown Anchorage businesses and cultural institutions
- Anchorage bowl residential property and business owners, whose homes and businesses will not increase in value as much as they would without a bridge
- Anchorage and Mat-Su Borough property owners whose taxes likely will increase to fund access roads and/or new infrastructure needed because of the bridge
- Mat-Su Borough residents who currently face growth problems in their overcrowded schools and roads, their overly-stressed emergency services, etc.
- Communities throughout the state that will lose state transportation funds to pay for the Knik Arm bridge instead
- Government Hill residents, who will have a highway through their close-knit, historic neighborhood
- Alaska Railroad
Who will pay for the bridge?
The bridge is likely to cost anywhere from $600 million (Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority estimate, 2005) to over $1.5 billion (Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities study estimate, 2003).
In the summer of 2005, the U.S. Congress granted a $231 million earmark for the bridge. After overwhelming national criticism over spending massive amounts of federal tax dollars on "bridges to nowhere," Congress removed its mandate to spend the $231 million on the Knik Arm bridge project. The State of Alaska still has the option to use much of this funding on the bridge, however the funding comes at the expense of other improvements to make Alaska's existing road system safer, smoother, and less congested.
Tolls likely will account for an additional $200 million. The remainder will be made up with "creative financing," including using State General Fund dollars (money that could instead be used to pay teachers or reinstitute revenue sharing with communities), increasing the state motor fuel tax and/or instituting a local motor fuel tax, and local property tax increases.
What will the bridge's toll be?
Wilbur Smith Associates, an infrastructure consulting firm, determined that the optimal cash toll when the bridge opens in 2010 should be $3 each way (2005). Higher tolls significantly reduce the number of travelers while lower tolls reduce revenue.
What are the alternatives to the proposed bridge? (More information here.)
During the public comment period for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) "scoping" period, the public proposed two primary alternatives to the bridge:
First: Four road route alternatives through Elmendorf Air Force Base connecting to downtown Anchorage via Post Road/Reeve Boulevard, Boniface Parkway, Muldoon Road, or Hiland Road, respectively (see map); and
Second: A four-part, non-bridge alternative consisting of:
- Vehicle/cargo ferry service between Point MacKenzie and Anchorage
- Commuter/cargo rail between the Mat-Su Borough and Anchorage
- Carpool and vanpool incentives for travel along the Glenn Highway between the Borough and Anchorage
- Expanded bus service and potential streetcar transit in Anchorage (to ensure easy movement within Anchorage)
Although it is supposed to analyze all reasonable alternatives in the NEPA Environmental Impact Statement, in its Scoping Summary Report issued in November 2005, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) rejected all the road route alternatives through Elmendorf as "not reasonable" because they are slightly more inconvenient for most travelers to Anchorage and cost more than the more-direct road route through Government Hill. This decision ignores the primary benefit of the road route alternatives through Elmendorf - preserving the neighborhood integrity of Government Hill.
Similarly, the FHWA also considered the four-part, non-bridge alternative "not reasonable" even though it was designed to meet the same need criteria as the bridge, and would do so at a small fraction of the cost of the bridge and its access roads.