The “bridge to nowhere” should be now here
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January 21, 2010 • Colton Fullmer, Guest Contributor
Filed under 2009-2010
I could not believe how difficult it was to travel to Ketchikan, Alaska. After arriving to the place, I was astounded to find out that I had to pay a five-dollar ferry fee to and from the airport of Ketchikan. The ferry also leaves every 40 minutes, which can be very inconvenient. Why would someone build an airport that can only be accessed by ferry? The only way to fix this problem is to build a bridge connecting the airport and its residents.
Building a bridge would not be a waste of money. It would allow more access to the airport for both residents and tourists. Ketchikan’s airport is the next largest airport in Southeast Alaska. About 200,000 people travel through this airport each year. There are too many people who need easy access to the city. This will help boost their tourism industry in Southeast Alaska.
The access provided by the bridge could boost their economy in Ketchikan. They could expand the city by developing houses, buildings and businesses on the island. The bridge wouldn’t be an economic waste. Instead, it would increase the potential of the tourism industry, which the majority of Southeast Alaska thrives on.
This bridge will cost a lot of money from our government, but it will also make us some too. The bridge could have a tollbooth built on it, and they could charge for access to and from the airport to Ketchikan. The bridge will eventually pay for itself, but it will indeed take some time.
This would never be a problem if they hadn’t built an airport on a separate piece of land not connected to mainland Ketchikan. Now that there is a problem, they must fix it. The only solution is to build a bridge. It’s the most logical one we have.
