Alaska Transportation 2000: follow the bureaucratic road.

• Author: Backman, Harald

A typical Alaska transportation project takes an average of seven years to complete, sometimes even longer. The Canyon Creek Bridge on the Seward Highway was tied up in 10 years of bureaucratic micro-management before the first shovelful of dirt was turned.

Alaska sits astride of the Pacific Rim, uniquely positioned to enter the global economy. To empower industry in forging global alliances into the next millennium, Alaska needs ongoing funds to build and maintain the necessary transportation infrastructure. This means state-of-the-art transportation systems covering the vast regions of Alaska, as well as those essential for large scale exportation and development of natural resources. Without adequate funding for both, Alaska cannot competitively transport oil and gas, seafood, minerals and timber products to global markets. With it Alaska thrives. Without it Alaska limps into the next century.

Alaska's economic health depends on an efficient, multimodal transportation system. But at present, the state lacks an adequate transportation infrastructure, and the process of building one involves much more than meets the eye.

Follow the Process

Understanding the somewhat arcane and confusing process of funding procurement is vital. First, an uphill battle against politicians from other states continues as Alaska receives more federal dollars than it contributes in fuel taxes. Second, federal funding includes many contingencies, not the least of which requires compliance with a miasma of federal regulations. Finally, at present, 90 percent of transportation money in Alaska come from the federal budget. Transitioning away from this dependent relationship lies somewhere on the distant horizon.

Unique for its vastness, Alaska boasts 42 square miles of land for every one mile of highway. In the rest of the United States the ratio is one to one. Our harsh winters and extensive wetlands also make new construction more costly. In the past, we benefited from federal policy that factored the extensive federal lands in our state - approximately 66 percent - into the funding formula. So, Alaska received many more federal dollars back than we contributed via fuel tax: Our state fuel tax is only $.08 per gallon versus $.22 per gallon as the national average. Alaska has been getting upwards of $5 back for every $1 contributed to the federal highway trust fund. Other donor states average $.87 for every dollar contributed. Thus, there is pressure back in Washington, D.C. for Alaska to get less money in the years ahead.

ISTEA

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act authorizes the principal federal highway and mass-transit funding for the states. It expires in September of this year, leaving the status of federal funds after 1998 uncertain. An indication of Alaska's future share came with President Clinton's National Economic...