"Opposing" the Bridge to Nowhere Print
Written by The Fact Checker in Chief   

Claim: Sarah Palin opposed the "Bridge to Nowhere"
Truth: Palin supported the plan and promoted it within Alaska, even after gained negative national attention.
Truth: Alaska kept $230 million in taxpayer funds even through they haven't built the bridge
Truth: Alaska kept over $20 million in funds for the "Road to Nowhere"

Truth: Palin currently supports another bridge for which Alaska is seeking for $449 million.

 

Sarah Palin holding Nowwhere Alaska t-shirt

The bridge project originally was written into the 2005 federal budget, but when it gained negative national attenion, Congress "killed" the bridge by removing the requirement in the budget that the money be spent on that project. But the money for Alaska stayed in the budget.

The money -- championed by Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, the powerful head of the Senate Appropriations Committee -- was earmarked to help construct a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island in the Alaskan Inland Passage in the southeastern corner of the state. A ferry boat now provides transportation between the two points.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate decided to drop the project after it was derided by critics as "pork-barrel spending" on "the bridge to nowhere."
They also decided to ax $229 million for a bridge between Anchorage and the sparsely populated Knik area of Alaska. That span has been named "Don Young's Way" after Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who, as chairman of the House Transportation Committee, has helped send federal dollars to the bridge.
Under a compromise transportation spending bill, Alaska would still get the federal dollars -- but the money would not be specifically designated for the two bridges. As a result, Alaskan lawmakers and other officials would decide where to spend the money -- and they could opt to fund other transportation projects.

SF Gate - Alaska 'bridge to nowhere' funding gets nowhere

 

In 2006, Palin  told Alaskans that she supported the bridge while campaigning for governor, and when the phrase "bridge to nowhere" was first coined, she told people that she resented the term. In fact, she even posed holding a shirt that read "Nowhere, Alaska, 99901" in solidarity with the residents there.

 

So, while Palin is fond of saying, "I told Congress, 'No thanks,' on that 'Bridge to Nowhere,'" the truth is that by the time Palin became Governor, Congress had already removed the federal stipulation that the bridge be built. At the time, though, she was still championing the use of the funds to build that bridge.

 

A report for the local news in Alaska: 

 

Soon, however, it became clear that the Federal government would not appropriate any further funds for that project in the following year's budget, meaning state of Alaska would have to cover the remaining costs itself. It was only then that Governor Palin came out against the building of the bridge--not when it was going to be paid for entirely with US taxpayer funds, but only when Alaskans would have been required to chip in as well. The spending bill had also included additional funds (in excess of $20 million) for building an access road on the island that would have gone to the base of the bridge, and since that funding did remain tied to that specific project (dubbed the "Road to Nowhere"), Palin is proceeding with the construction of that road, even though it currently will connect to nothing. 
 
So to sum this all up:
Palin still happily took the $233 million from the federal government. She happily spent over $20 million of other federal money to build a road that goes nowhere. The only true part of Palin's story is that the bridge itself hasn't been built. 

 

A video report from TheRealNews.com:

More details coming soon about that other bridge that Alaska is still trying to get funds for... 

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