ADN: State-city panel approves delaying Knik Arm bridge
June 25, 2009http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/knik/story/843700.html
By DON HUNTER
dhunter@adn.com
(06/25/09 15:25:59)
A joint state-city committee that makes decisions on major transportation
and highway projects in Anchorage voted unanimously this afternoon to push
the Knik Arm bridge project back a few years.
The AMATS Policy Committee adopted a compromise recommended by a technical
committee of planners and engineers, and opted against an earlier proposal
to delete the bridge project completely from Anchorage's long-range
transportation plan entirely. That move would have killed it.
The compromise will allow the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority to continue
its efforts to plan for and design the bridge, and to try to find ways to
finance the project, most recently estimated at about $680 million.
The toll authority's executives strongly opposed both options. They said the
compromise passed up by the technical committee should have gone through a
new, 30-day public comment period.
The cities of Wasilla and Houston, making a similar argument, filed suit
late Tuesday afternoon to block any changes in the bridge project's status.
A hearing on a temporary restraining order sought by the Mat-Su communities
is set for a court hearing tomorrow afternoon.
Contact reporter Don Hunter at dhunter@adn.com or 257-4349.
