| November 4, 2005 Dear Mayor Begich ... by Brian Yanity, insurgent49 Dear Mayor Begich and Assemblyman Tesche, This week I received in my mailbox Volume 4 of the Knik Arm Crossing News, entitled “Announcing the Alternatives”. The message of Representative Don Young, the Alaska State Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ASDOTPF) and the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority (KABATA) is clear: the Government Hill neighborhood is expendable. The only two options being seriously considered for the bridge’s Anchorage-side connecting highway, Degan Street or Erickson Street, slice directly through the heart of the neighborhood. Either route is a serious threat to the quality of life in Government Hill. Air pollution and noise in the neighborhood would greatly increase under the plan, with a physical barrier cutting the neighborhood in half. Homes, small businesses, and a church are slated to be bulldozed. In addition, our neighborhood cannot cope with the projected 10,000 to 40,000 vehicles a day expected to use the bridge. Downtown Anchorage will also be negatively impacted by the Knik Arm Bridge. The thousands of additional vehicles would clog not only the A/C couplet, but also the Ingra/Gambell couplet, where the Seward Highway begins. A connecting highway running from Government Hill to Ingra/Gambell would destroy Harvard Park, as well as a large swath of the historic Ship Creek area. I am writing to you because both KABATA and ASDOTPF have completely ignored the public comments of Government Hill residents. We take great pride in our historic neighborhood. I am a student living on a very fixed income, but Government Hill offers me a diverse, clean, affordable, and quiet neighborhood to live in, with a strong sense of community solidarity. Our half-dozen parks and proximity to downtown Anchorage – along with our beautiful views of the Knik Arm the Chugach Range – make me proud to live in this city. The multi-modal systems alternative to the Knik Arm Bridge consists of the following elements: - A commuter rail - A Glenn Highway express bus, an in-town electric trolley, and expanded bus service - More Carpool and van pool programs - A Knik Arm Ferry to Port MacKenzie, for both commuter traffic and freight The viable alternatives listed above are now completely discounted by the official study. The latest edition of the Knik Arm Crossing News claims that the multi-modal alternative described above “does not meet financial feasibility, efficiency (travel time and mode connections), system redundancy/emergency access criteria.” However, the publication never explains exactly what is meant by financial feasibility or efficiency. By financial feasibility, what they really mean is the ability of greedy special interests (construction firms, Mat-Su land speculators and developers) to get rich off the project. Such short-term profits should not preclude the long-term interests of our region. To remain viable as a region in the 21st century, avoiding even more low-density suburban sprawl is necessary. Anchorage made the mistake of constructing too much spread-out, auto-centered development during the 1970s and 1980s. The Mat-Su Borough and its realtor-developer interests want all of the remaining agricultural land to be converted into wasteful suburban sprawl. While it is true that agriculture in the Mat-Su has had limited financial success since the 1930s, the economic value of locally-produced food products will increase along with rising oil prices (and, therefore, shipping costs). Tiny Rhode Island has greater agricultural production than Alaska, which is dead last in the entire nation. It is downright criminal to subsidize destructive sprawl developers in the Mat-Su valley, at a time when millions of fellow Americans on the Gulf Coast are in desperate need of federal road construction money. I firmly believe that a city or region cannot be great without great public works, but the Knik Arm Bridge project is simply the wrong priority at the wrong time. The Knik Arm Bridge will ruin the goals of the Anchorage 2020 plan that was approved by the Assembly. The project’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) has a public comment period this fall, and is scheduled to be completed by June 2006. The residents of Government Hill will make their voices heard. If our community struggle results in canceling the entire Knik Arm Bridge project, so be it. Sincerely, Brian B. Yanity Government Hill Resident Graduate Student, UAA School of Engineering President, UAA Sustainable Energy Society  Brian Yanity is a student activist and freelance journalist who resides in an undisclosed location in Southcentral Alaska. He can be reached at byanity@insurgent49.com. |
-
Columnists -
- also by this
writer -
|
||||||
| Copyright
2005
Insurgent Media. All Rights
Reserved. in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership. |
|||||||
