Palin hung on to 'bridge to nowhere' funds

JUNEAU, Alaska, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin may have said no to the "bridge to nowhere," but kept earmarked money and built an island road to nowhere, island residents said.

Even though the $398 million Gravina Island Bridge went away, construction of the road remained, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. But instead of linking the island to a neighboring island, the stretch of blacktop goes from the small international airport on Gravina Island to a cul-de-sac near a beach.

While campaigning for governor, now Republican vice presidential candidate Palin told Ketchikan residents she backed the bridge, but as governor killed the project that became a national object of ridicule and lost congressional funding. After she was elected and it looked like the Alaska's portion would be too costly, Palin ordered transportation officials to abandon the project -- but held on to the $223 million in federally earmarked money, the Times reported.

Some residents of Ketchikan -- a city on the neighboring island where the bridge was to end -- view the road as a symbol of wasteful spending Palin could have curtailed and now speak out against while on the stump.

"Surely we won't have to commute on the highway if there won't be a bridge. It's a dead-end highway," said Jill Jacob, who has been contacting the governor's office to protest the road.

Alaska transportation officials were hoping to build a bridge when road construction began, and "you need that highway access," said Roger Wetherell, a department spokesman.