Cranial Gas – Desultory Musings

Bridge to nowhere abandoned

September 23, 2007 at 8:53 pm | Posted in Federal Budget, Ted Stevens | Leave a comment

Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska managed to get a $200 million dollar congressional appropriation to build a bridge to an island that has 50 inhabitants. The total cost of the bridge was estimated to be $398 million or almost $8 million per resident.

U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, both Republicans, championed the project through Congress two years ago, securing more than $200 million for the bridge between Revillagigedo and Gravina islands.

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.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/22/alaska.bridge.ap/index.html