The View From ‘Nowhere’

most of us in ketchikan dont really care whether or not the bridge is built at least not very much.im 16 years old and have lived in ketchikan all my life and were all doin fine on our island so dont anyone worry about the bridge.however on the topic of palin she was a good governer because she wanted to bring in money with the natural gas pipeline but she has become a complete sell out and im no longer proud of her.BUT think about this:theres less people in her hometown than there are in ketchikan.im independant or at least i would be if i could vote and i do support obama.

Dear Mayor Kiffer,
I live in upstate NY, in the apple and wine country of western NY. I am a 45 year old preschool teacher and mother. Since I was a young person, I have dreamed about coming to Alaska, not the other popular choices of my friends; Hawaii. I do sincerely hope that you get your bridge and that the media will realize that you and your state are not political pawns or worse, something to be laughed at and trivialized.
Best regards and I hope that one day I will get there!
Lisa West
Livonia NY

Mayor, we feel your pain, but let's look at this. I am not aware of any other state in America where people get bonuses from the state - you folks do - even though other states have valuable resources. You mentioned a million tourists a year, and 250,000 through your airport. I have an idea - charge them a dollar each, and build your bridge. No one is saying you can't have one. But maybe people in Alaska need to realize you receive an inordinate amount from our government - in spite of having such a "reform" minded governor. Or maybe, just maybe, she could leave her kids home, and use that money for the bridge program as well. Makes y ou want to go hmmm.

Sorry you Alaskan Republicans we would not want you to be Socialist so we can???t build you a bridge, besides the republicans you elected gutted all our social programs and are having our infrastructure here fall down around us; so they can buy bombs that makes Cheney???s friends richer, to throw at goat herders. So you will have to do it yourself and we will leave you alone to thrive like your governor asked the US government to do.

Geeee-Governor Palin sounds to not only be a liar, but also one of those "ELITE" members of government she continues to belittle. Im not certain if this project was worth the money or not, I have never been there and probably will never be one of those 250,000 visitors, but your governor seems to think the people of Alaska and your need to expand as well as create jobs is a worthless cause. Maybe she should have spent some of that money buying herself and her family clothes and make-up @ Sax. Maybe she can use some of that money she kept and pay for the the medical expenses and the wedding of the century for her pregnant, un-married, teenage daughter! Sarah Palin is a disgrace to Middle Class America and should be ashamed of herself for exposing herself and her family to society. I hope when her and McCain loose the election that her political career is desproyed. She is a dishonest, deceptive, and dangerous woman!

What Liberal crap??? The Mayor stated the facts quite succintely. What is Liberal about that? I hope after the election and things get back to normal, soon I hope, That they get their bridge.

If I understand/remember correctly, some of the biggest bridge proponents happen to be people who own land on Gravina. The land there isn't really any better for development than the land where most of the town's population is, mountains or no. People that live on Gravina choose the area *because* it is not as easily accessible. The ferry ride there is a whopping 8 minutes at most. It isn't convenient if you want to take your car on the ferry, but that's mainly because there is very little parking over on the airport side of things. While you might have to lug your baggage in the rain if you park your car in town, you also have the opportunity to use the shuttle service that usually is running, basically a van that takes people and their bags onto the ferry and up the short road to the airport so they don't have to carry their stuff. The "nowhere" in question really is nowhere at this point, if you look past the airport. Their are NO roads except the short drive up the hill to the airport, so short it takes maybe a minute, mainly because the speed limit is 10 mph (if I recall correctly). Growing up, none of this was a hardship as far as I am concerned and without question does not merit the money required for a bridge. Not only that, but the bridge itself could be an impediment to the cruise ships so vital to the area. Nothing like saying you need a bridge to help the economy when such a bridge could discourage the tourism that does sustain the town. And an earlier poster had a valid point, it would probably not be useable in some of the more severe weather. You can count on 100+ mph winds late fall every year and strong winds relatively often in addition. And the Tongass Narrows is probably one of the busiest waterways anywhere for floatplane traffic. Flying in that area is hard enough without tacking on a gigantic bridge in the middle of it all, particularly considering the amount of fog in the Narrows. And while not related directly, consider the "Bypass" the city just had to build during the late 80's, expressly to make it easier for emergency vehicles to reach the Bear Valley area more quickly. The road is so steep the emergency vehicles CANNOT use it. Very typical of politics in Ketchikan, unfortunately.

My question to ask anyone would be the obvious. Regardless if you are a proud Democrat or Rebublican if one decides against the bridge why wouldn't they also decide against taking the funds that go with it?

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravina_Island_Bridge although Palin was originally a main proponent of the bridge, McCain???Palin television advertisements since September claim Palin "stopped the Bridge to Nowhere".Howard Kurtz called this a "whopper", writing: "She endorsed the remote project while running for governor in 2006, claimed to be an opponent only after Congress killed its funding the next year and has used the $223 million provided for it for other state ventures. According to the Los Angeles Times for instance, while seeking votes for her governorship race, Palin told Ketchikan residents that she backed the "bridge to nowhere"; as governor, she spent the money elsewhere and moved ahead with a $26-million road to the nonexistent bridge.

Palin has spent more than $25 million in federal funds to build the Gravina Island Highway on Gravina Island to the place where the proposed bridge would have gone, because, according to Alaskan state officials, the $25 million would otherwise have had to be returned to the Federal government. Gov. Palin can't have it both ways, it seems the real arguement here is if you are not going to build a bridge then maybe you should return the funds that were initially intended for the bridge. C'mon, either way, this is good conversation for thought, and another example of politician double talk to make them look like they are the hero of the day by saving federal money when in fact it was spent in other forms. "Hypocrisy" A prime example of taking money but making it look like you didn't.

Thank goodness,finally someone has written the true story about the bridge to nowhere!We never were told the whole story,I can understand,people wanting a way to be part of this transient country.I know this may not be in a heavily populated area,but that's Alaska.It should have been important to Gov Palin,she was elected to serve the people of Alaska,aren't those people residents of Alaska?Why didn't she help them?

I have been an Alaskan resident for 21 years in fact I graduated from high school in a logging camp in the middle of nowhere , Hobart Bay , Alaska. To all of you people in the lower 48 who think you are paying high prices on gas because we get a dividend each year you should pay what we pay for fuel every day and you would appreciate your low price of gas. The dividend is not only funded by oil revenue but by stocks the PFD has invested in over the years not our fault that your states don't have one should have planned better now as for those of you who say we don't have sales tax in alaska Ketchikan pays 5 cents on the dollar for everything they buy, and so do most of the cities in Alaska. The bridge to nowhere what a bunch of bull everyone in the lower 48 just gets in their car and goes down the road to whereever they want to, come try that in a town where you can't even drive to the airport, without putting your car on a ferry to get to the airport. God forbid you should be a broke student coming to work in Ketchikan at one of their many fish processing plants, because you buy a plane ticket that is to Ketchikan Ak you better remember to bring an extra 5 bucks just to get from the airport to Ketchikan because you are not in town but on an entirely different island when you land. We have been paying for the lower 48 to get their roads built why shouldn't they pay for a bridge in Alaska,you don't hear us whine when they cry about the spotted owl so why do you feel the need to protest our bridge or ANWR, want lower gas prices stop bitching and let us drill , back to the bridge my parents live in Ketch, and my father works on the slope he therefor uses the ferry once every three weeks, unless my mom wants to pay 10 dollars to go to the airport with him if they walk on, it's $20 for a vehicle and $5 extra for each person in the vehicle, they say their goodbyes on the town side 2 hours prior due to the fear of terrorist attack on an airplane that as so many people have said is going to "NOWHERE" Thebridge would be of great convenience to those of us who travel to and from Ketch, try to carry all of your heavy bags which none of you have to do down south since you can all drive up to the front door at your airports and unload to a skycap for check in where we, have to ride a ferry, carry them a half mile up the hill to the airport, and pay 5 bucks just to get to the airport.