A bit like asking if we should build the South Coast rail link

By Jim Stergios
January 30th, 2008

A friend on Friday mentioned her visit to infamous Gravina Island. Ah, Gravina Island, you ask. Pray tell, where is that?

You may recall a certain Bridge To Nowhere. You may also remember that at the end of the summer Governor Palin from her perch in the fair capital city, Juneau (yes, that is the capital), decided not to push for the construction of the BTN, thereby putting the $200+ million to use on other highways and bridges in the Last Frontier State.

You may also recall that the BTN was to have run from the balmy (for Alaska) city of Ketchikan (pop. 8,000) to Gravina Island (home to 50 permanent residents).

What I did not know was that the ferry ride is not only frequent (every 15 minutes) but also takes only about 5-10 minutes.

Sort of reminds one that instead of spending $1.4 billion on the South Coast rail link, one could use bus service to get it done. The only problem is that, well, the buses would be as empty as the trains… Have the ridership estimates changed since the Supplemental DEIR submitted to MEPA?

There has to be a better way to get this done.