When I ask myself which unfinished legislative business this session most affects the Mat-Su, I see a number of issues. The top three are: the Knik Arm Bridge, unprecedented wasteful spending by the Legislature and high priority Valley roads. The Legislature has been overspending for years, which affects all Alaskans negatively. Valley legislators have done a good job making sure we have received adequate dollars to pay for road improvements ... which leaves the Knik Arm Bridge.

The Knik Arm Bridge will touch all who live in the Valley in many ways, most of them positive. When it is begun there will be a wave of people who will arrive to design and construct it. They will be well-educated engineers who will be assets to our Valley. The economy will be moved by concentric waves of money and talent introduced into our lives as the bridge takes shape.

The bridge itself will make commuting easier. It will open up the entire Point Mackenzie area and relieve the pressure on the Glenn Highway. With two modern, well-lit bridges (over the Matanuska River and Knik Arm), we will make the commute shorter and safer. By cutting off commuter time, goods and services will be less expensive. We will also have happier drivers because the route to and from Anchorage will be shorter.

The Knik Arm Bridge will be expensive but it can pay for itself by generating electricity with the tides at its base. It could also be a toll bridge so that its users would be the ones paying for it instead of a hapless taxpayer in Homer who never goes near it.

We have not yet finished all of the legislative haggling to get the bridge underway. I have urged my colleagues to take the necessary steps to do so. Your positive comments in an e-mail or Public Opinion Message would also go a long way toward getting it through the Legislature. The Knik Arm Bridge is an example of what government should do. It can be done right. Let's do it.

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