We promise not to waste it: Alaska and new federal infrastructure funds

The year was 2005 and Parade magazine, a publication distributed with Sunday newspapers nationwide, featured Ketchikan on its Nov. 6 cover for a story entitled “A Visit To The Bridge To Nowhere.” Earlier in 2005, Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young inserted $223 million toward the Ketchikan bridge and $229 million for the Knik Arm bridge into federal transportation law. Gov. Sarah Palin canceled the Ketchikan bridge in 2007 and Gov. Bill Walker canceled the Knik Arm bridge in 2016 due to lack of funds and the state’s need to spend transportation money to repair existing infrastructure.

Before those cancellations, Alaska spent approximately $140 million on the two projects. Alaska became the nation’s poster state for wasteful federal infrastructure spending.

With full support from Alaska’s federal delegation, President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law on Nov. 15. The new law provides significant funding for Alaska and, given the state’s finances, we cannot afford to waste a single dollar. Among its benefits, the law will help rural areas obtain broadband and clean water. Sen. Lisa Murkowski issued a seven page bulleted list of the law’s Alaska highlights.

More than half of the law’s new funds will go to transportation, $284 billion of $550 billion in new money. Roads and bridges are the largest portion of these transportation investments. The law increases Alaska’s funding by approximately 26%, to $3.7 billion over five years, for roughly 5,600 miles of state roads and 845 bridges — many of which are now structurally deficient. Alaska’s Marine Highway System of ferries likely will receive hundreds of millions through a new $1 billion program for rural communities and the state’s airports will receive $392 million plus the opportunity to compete for additional funding.

With this new infusion of federal money, Alaska must avoid the spending mistakes made in the past. The state should only fund transportation projects that have been thoroughly vetted for success. Consider these road and bridge megaprojects where the state has spent substantial funds, including required state-match dollars to obtain federal money, but which eventually were canceled: the Ketchikan and Knik Arm bridges, the Juneau Access and Umiat roads, and the road to Nome. Additionally, consider the transportation megaprojects currently pushed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy likely to be canceled due to strained justifications and better uses of state funds: the Ambler road, a 211 mile road through Interior Alaska to subsidize mining, and the 100 mile West Susitna Access road, which has limited support from the Mat-Su Borough.

So how can the state ensure it spends the new federal transportation funds wisely? As the former head of the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project (ATPP), an organization that promoted sensible transportation systems, I recommend developing a vision for Alaska’s transportation. The Statewide Long-Range Transportation Policy Plan called Alaska Moves 2050, to be completed in fall 2022, is the ideal place to codify this vision. This vision needs to include remote workers in Alaska, especially with upgraded broadband, and should favor transportation systems that minimize greenhouse gas emissions — with electrification of transportation a large part — while still serving users.

I also recommend that the state spend federal funds to maintain existing roads and bridges rather than build new infrastructure given Alaska’s significant deferred and preventive maintenance needs. ATPP’s polling showed this approach to be a proven winner politically.

As an engineer, I get it. New megaprojects are sexy to build, while maintenance of existing infrastructure is not. But Alaska is a big state with a harsh climate, earthquakes, flooding and permafrost thawing, and that means existing infrastructure requires constant maintenance. The state has plenty of pressing road and bridge maintenance needs and a neglected ferry system — fixing those will keep transportation engineers and workers busy for many years. The new federal infrastructure law is a rare opportunity to address maintenance needs while also implementing a forward-looking transportation vision.

Lois Epstein is an Alaska-licensed engineer who heads LNE Engineering and Policy consulting. She directed the nonprofit Alaska Transportation Priorities Project from 2007-2010.

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