Public money sought for bridge

MAT-SU — Though a lot could happen between now and the end of the legislative session, Gov. Sean Parnell seems intent on changing the mechanism for funding a bridge across Knik Arm.

The Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority had been pursing a public-private partnership to fund the project. But language in Gov. Parnell’s budget indicates a switch to purely public funding.

“This appropriation provides continued support to (Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority) as the State pursues a more traditional public financing option to complete the project. A public financing option has significant advantages for the state over other models,” reads the memo attached to Parnell’s appropriation. “This appropriation will allow the State of Alaska to pursue a lower cost of financing, more budget certainty, and the ability to secure financing sooner.”

KABATA officials Friday said they were grateful for the support.

“We obviously are excited that the governor believes in this project and has decided to move forward with a more traditional approach,” said KABATA spokeswoman Shannon McCarthy.

The governor put in his budget released last week $5 million worth of state money to go along with $50 million in federal money drawn out of the pool of money the feds provide Alaska for transportation projects.

Whether that is an increase or a decrease over last year depends on how you look at it. Last year, the governor proposed $10 million in state money but it was contingent upon legislation that did not get through the Legislature.

McCarthy said that at the time the bridge was first funded with a $230 million earmark from Congressman Don Young, the plan had been to fund it with a third of the cost coming from the state, a third from the federal government and the last third from toll revenue.

She cited pressures from the Legislature seeking to spend less state money on projects pushing it to the private sector. But then the economy collapsed in 2008 and the private sector couldn’t borrow money like it once could. That’s when the Private Public Partnership plan was born.

Most recently, KABATA had been working on a request for proposals from private companies willing to finance, design, build and operate the span.

“We’re kind of in a transition period right now,” McCarthy said, noting that the orders for KABATA come from its board of directors, which hasn’t met since Parnell released his budget. “The RFP and the PPP process is still active and alive.”

Critics of the project have pilloried the governor’s move as abandoning the private sector and wasting money spent on a project that is itself an example of wasteful government spending.

“The millions of state and federal dollars spent to date on lawyers, bankers and consultants involved in the Knik Arm Bridge public-private-partnership project essentially have been wasted,” Bob French, an engineer and bridge critic said in a press release issued Thursday.

The press release says project will not benefit Wasilla-area commuters, who will have to drive farther, and it described KABATA’s traffic projections as inflated.

KABATA has defended its numbers, and says a third-party review of the data is set for release this month.

Bridge supporters say the infrastructure would instead open up Point MacKenzie to residential development, shuttle truck traffic around Wasilla rather than through it, and bring areas like Big Lake and Willow closer to Anchorage while serving as a second link between Anchorage and the state’s Interior.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.