WASHINGTON — What a difference a committee chairman makes.

Don Young is the lone representative of Alaska's 640,000 residents, but as chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he secured more than $1 billion worth of special projects for his home state in the federal highway bill signed into law Aug. 10.

Then there's Washington: The Evergreen State's congressional delegation represents 6.3 million residents but walked away with about half of Alaska's total: $522 million in specially designated transportation projects.

That means Washingtonians are getting about $84 per capita in the special "earmarked" projects, compared with $1,448 for each Alaskan.

It's an example of the impact a prized Capitol Hill committee assignment can have for members of Congress, where power often translates into home-state largesse. While Alaska ranks 47th in population, it's receiving more earmarked federal highway money than all the other states except California and Illinois.

Out of $286 billion set aside for transportation, the bill provides a total of $24 billion for more than 6,000 special projects across the nation. The rest of the money goes to general transportation spending.

"What can we say? We have a very small population and a very large state," said John Manly, chief communications officer for Alaska's Department of Transportation. "Obviously, our congressional delegation believes investing in Alaska infrastructure benefits the country as a whole."

Washington and Alaska road projects


Top special projects in the new federal highway bill:

Alaska

$231 million, Knik Arm Bridge, Anchorage

$223 million, Gravina Island Bridge, Ketchikan

$100 million, docks, waterfront development and other projects, Denali Borough

$35 million, ferry boats, terminal and approaches, Alaska Marine Highway System

Washington

$231 million, Alaskan Way Viaduct, Seattle

$16.8 million, Highway 304 tunnel for offloading ferry traffic, Bremerton

$10.7 million, Interstate 5/134th Street interchange improvement, Clark County

$10.8 million, I-405 improvements, Bellevue

Source: Taxpayers for Common Sense

Indeed, Alaska also received $3 million to fund a documentary exploring infrastructure advancements in the state.

Consider the tale of two bridges — or a bridge and a viaduct, to be exact.

Washington's delegation secured $231 million — nearly half of its total special-project dollars — to help fund the state's multibillion-dollar Alaskan Way Viaduct and seawall-replacement project. The viaduct was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake.

Alec Williamson, project engineer for the Washington state Department of Transportation, said an estimated 103,000 vehicles navigate the viaduct each day.

"It's kind of a domino effect," said Patrice Gillespie Smith, chief of staff at the Seattle Department of Transportation. "Without the viaduct you'll see I-5 get more congested, and then 405. ... It's one of the main north-south corridors, and we need to do everything to maintain that."

By coincidence, Young also secured $231 million for Alaska's most-expensive project in its $1 billion "earmark" windfall: The Knik Arm Bridge, later dubbed Don Young's Way.

The bridge would span Knik Arm — part of the Cook Inlet — and link Anchorage with Port McKenzie and the remote Mat-Su Borough. The project is estimated at $600 million total.

George Wuerch, chairman of the board for the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority, said the project would allow much-needed residential and industrial expansion for Anchorage.

The next-largest chunk in Alaska's award is $223 million to help build another bridge: an estimated $315 million project connecting Ketchikan, population 8,000, with neighboring Gravina Island, population 50.

Manly said Ketchikan International Airport is located on Gravina Island, which now is reached by a seven-minute ferry ride, available every half-hour. The bridge would improve airport access and allow residential and industrial growth on the island, he said.

The Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges have been labeled "bridges to nowhere" by critics of their hefty price tags.

Representatives from Young's office could not be reached for comment about the projects.

Keith Ashdown, vice president of policy at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget-watchdog group, called the Gravina Island Bridge a "congressionally mandated bridge for a congressionally mandated airport." The group reported the bridge would be nearly as long as the Golden Gate and taller than the Brooklyn Bridge.

But Wuerch said the high per-capita spending plan for Alaska is justified because the federal government has spent so little on roads there in the past.

"We get accused of being the ultimate donee state, but we were the original donor state — or territory, you'd have to say," said Jeff Ottesen, program-development director for the Alaska Transportation Department.

While Alaskans contributed to the federal highway trust fund since it began in 1916, they did not see a penny back until 40 years later, a 1983 Alaska report states. Alaska became a state in 1959.

"We were the red-headed stepchildren," Ottesen said.

The federal money will cover about one-third of the total Knik Arm Bridge costs and about two-thirds of the Gravina Island Bridge costs, state officials said.

The Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority is considering financing the remaining two-thirds of its project with a combination of Federal Highway Authority loans and bonds, and a mix of even more federal money and state matching funds, said Henry Springer, the authority's executive director.

By contrast, the $231 million federal appropriation for Seattle's viaduct represents less than 8 percent of the estimated $3 billion to $4 billion price tag. It's unclear whether the project will get additional federal money.

A statewide gasoline-tax increase that began last month is expected to generate about $2.2 billion for the project. But an initiative on the November ballot would repeal the tax and leave transportation planners looking for another way to finance the project.

Marcel Honoré: 202-661-0123