The proposed Knik Arm bridge is suddenly back in the news. On July 11, an Alaska Dispatch News headline reported: "Knik Arm Crossing work gets go-ahead, disappointing critics." Climate change is also in the news -- practically daily. Alaska's future may see more rain and less snow. Ocean acidification imperils Alaska's fishing dependent economy. St. Lawrence Island villagers are facing economic disaster from declining walrus harvests due to melting sea ice.
If we want to help stem climate change, we must do more than tell Shell Oil not to drill in Arctic waters. We need to adopt transportation policies that reduce our dependence on oil. That means giving people more choices besides the car or the truck.
Seventy-two percent of U.S. oil is used in the transportation sector, mostly by cars and trucks. They contribute two to three times more greenhouse gas emissions per passenger mile than rail transit. That's one reason the Alaska Railroad Corporation runs the Green Line to the Alaska State Fair with the help of its corporate sponsors: it helps people save on fuel. Walking and biking, of course, give off little or no emissions. So to help our climate we need to foster infrastructure development that encourages public transit, walking and biking.
The proposed Knik Arm bridge would do the opposite of that. It would create more auto-dependent, urban sprawl. Sprawled development uses more gasoline because of the increased distance between homes, businesses, services and jobs. People have no choice but to drive their cars and trucks, and to drive them longer distances. Auto-dependent sprawl makes it harder to walk or to bike, which in turn has health implications. Sprawled development also raises energy and other costs of providing public infrastructure and services, and increases air pollution.
On the other hand, we already have the Alaska Railroad! State money saved by not building expensive new bridge connections can help fund commuter rail with connecting bus service in Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. We can do this by setting up a joint Anchorage Mat-Su Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) which would be a channel for state and local funds and make it easier to compete for limited federal funds.
By choosing to upgrade our rail transportation now rather than adding more highway lanes and building the Knik Arm bridge, we could help induce more pedestrian-friendly development that could help people reduce their carbon footprint. Portland, Oregon, did this 30 years ago, and real estate values have soared near rail lines.
While most Alaskans did not move to Alaska to live in a high-rise or a condo, clustering single family housing and business around greenbelts and parks, and building sidewalks and bike paths near rail and connecting bus lines, can give people more time to appreciate the Alaska outdoors rather than sitting in traffic waiting to pay a bridge toll.
For several years, bills have been introduced in the Alaska Legislature which would authorize an RTA. Instead, our Legislature has chosen to spend money on continued Knik Arm bridge planning. By 2015, $85 million has already been spent on the Knik Arm bridge. It would have cost the Alaska Railroad or a Joint Anchorage-Mat Su Regional Transportation Authority $28 million to begin operating passenger rail for commuters in 2002.
Alaska is leading the country in climate change impacts. So let's also lead the country by building a different type of bridge: a bridge between how we travel and protect our climate.
Cynthia Wentworth is an economist and anthropologist who was born and raised in Anchorage. She is a former employee of the Alaska Railroad Corporation and a longtime activist for environmentally sustainable transportation.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com