 By Michael Spence June 18, 2007
Thanks to Carol Cairnes for the informative letter regarding some of the background of the Gravina Road. I have not done the research to verify the details, but if half of it is true, it rings like a familiar story. The June 14 AP news report regarding the Coconut Road project in Florida, describes another community that was afraid to say no to the largesse of a federal earmark. Like the Gravina Access Project, it was prioritized by a network of self-serving political contributors, not the community itself. If the Gravina Access project and its spinoffs: the "Gravina Highway" (and others yet to be announced) continue, Ketchikan can look forward to future years of neglect of the road system we use every day. In other words, DOT funding and supervision will continue to be compromised on Revillagigedo Island and Ketchikan proper. Perhaps coincidentally, the Ketchikan Daily News ran yet another editorial on June 15 praising the virtues of the Kiewit-Murkowski Road and other past and future yet-to-be-subsidized Gravina Access gems, dismissing critics as "uninformed members of congress", "the New York Times" and "the anti development crowd". One can only hope that all of us will continue to get better informed about this project and stop it before any more harm is done. Michael Spence Received June 17, 2007 - Published June 18, 2007 Related Viewpoint:
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