News from Patrick Flynn

The announcement that Anchorage filed a federal law suit regarding the proposed Knik Arm Crossing prompted speculation that I was somehow behind that decision.  I know, because at least two prominent backers of the project expressed surprise when they discovered that not only did I have nothing to do with this decision, but I only learned about it when I read the story in the newspaper.

Backing up a bit, frequent readers are aware that I helped initiate a public process around the role of the Knik Arm Crossing in Anchorage’s Long Range Transportation Plan.  Working through the discussion I agreed with former DOT Central Region Director Gordon Keith and his then-boss, Frank Richards, to move the project from the short-term to the long-term project list.  That allowed for a longer time frame to work on the myriad of complications associated with the bridge, and allowed for other projects on both the Anchorage & Mat-Su side to advance.  The concept achieved unanimous support from the Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions (AMATS) Technical Advisory Committee, the Assembly, AMATS’ Policy Committee and mayor-elect Dan Sullivan.

In the ensuing weeks the cities of Wasilla and Houston, joined shortly thereafter by (surprise!) the Knik Arm Bridge & Toll Authority, sued on the basis of inadequate public process.  In the interest of maximum public involvement all parties agreed to a do-over, during which Mr. Keith retired and Mr. Richards switched positions.  Net result?  The AMATS policy committee, with a new DOT representative and a new mayor (Sullivan), replaced its previous unanimous decision to move the Knik Arm Crossing to our long-term project list with a 3-2 decision to keep it on the short term list.

And now, two years later, the mayor has filed a law suit to seek what would have been achieved by sticking to his original support for moving the project to the long-term list.

By the way, have you been by the H2H project office lately?  I have, and didn’t see a single light on…

Regards,

Patrick