Golden Ears Bridge

This weekend, the Golden Ears Bridge will open up and provide a direct link between the Northeast sector of Metro Vancouver and the Southeast sector. Located about 11km east of the existing Port Mann Bridge, it will provide a much needed extra link across the Fraser River and hopefully reduce congestion.

On July 31st the Albion Ferry, which has been operating since 1957, will cease operations.

If you're interested, you can walk across the bridge deck this Sunday, June 14th between 11am - 4pm. Details here.

This is a great addition to the traffic infrastructure for residents in this part of our metropolitan area!

The Bridge to Nowhere: A Careful Analysis

I've been carefully listening to a lot of discussion on Alaska's famous Bridge to Nowhere. Being a stickler for facts I decided to get past the rhetoric and carefully look at the history of this controversial project:

1. In September 2004, the U.S. Department of Transportation released its decision to build the Gravina Island Bridge (aka "The Bridge to Nowhere") at an estimated $230 Million. [Source]
   
   
2. By February 2005 the cost estimate had grown to $315 Million. [Source]
   
   
3. Of this amount, $223 Million was to come from federal funds. As well, $230 Million of federal funds was slated for the Knik Arm Bridge in Anchorage, resulting in a total of $453 Million for the two bridges. [Source]
   
   
   
4. These funds were pushed for by Congressman Don Young and Senator Ted Stevens. [Source]
   
   
5. On October 20, 2005 the U.S. Senate passed the H.R. 3058 [109th] Act, which included the 2006 National Appropriations Bill. The funding for the two Alaska bridges was included in this Bill. [Source]
   
   
6. This Senate vote was 93 For and 7 Against. Among those 'Against' was John McCain. Among those 'For' were Barack Obama and Joe Biden. [Source]
   
   
7. By the time the Bill had been passed, the total amount of federal funding for the two bridges has been decreased to $442 Million. [Source]
   
   
8. On November 16, 2005 the U.S. Congress stripped the specific earmark allocation of $442 Million in federal funds for the Gravina Island and Knik Arm Bridges in Alaska. Thus Alaska lawmakers and the governor were left to distribute it for transportation projects as they saw fit, including still building the bridges if they so chose. [Source]
   
   
9. In September 2006, during the Alaska Governor's campaign, Sarah Palin did express her support for the bridge. [Source]
   
   
10. Sarah Palin was elected Governor of Alaska on November 7, 2006. [Source]
    
    
11. In the first 10 months in her role as Governor, public opinion against wasteful spending grew. She reflected upon this and eventually changed her mind, even though her decision was extremely unpopular with some fellow Republicans. [Source]
    
    
12. By September 2007 the estimated cost of the bridge had climbed to $398 Million. [Source]
    
    
13. On September 21, 2007 Governor Sarah Palin announced that the bridge project would be canceled. In doing so she said the following: "Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer. Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island." In the same press release the following was stated: "The Department of Transportation has approximately $36 million in federal funds that will become available for other projects with the shutdown of the Gravina Island bridge project. Governor Palin has directed Commissioner Leo von Scheben to review transportation projects statewide to prepare a list of possible uses for the funds, while the department also looks for a more affordable answer for Gravina Island access." [Source]
    
    
14. On the same day the Alaska Department of Transportation commissioner, Leo von Scheben said the following: "There is no question we desperately need to construct new roads in this state, including in southeast Alaska, where skyrocketing costs for the Alaska Marine Highway System present an impediment to the state's budget and the region's economy." [Source]
    
    
15. After Sarah Palin was nominated by John McCain to be his VP, her communications director, Bill McAlister, was asked why she had initially supported the bridge. He said: "It was never at the top of her priority list, and in fact the project isn't necessarily dead ... there's still the potential for improved ferry service or even a bridge of a less costly design. [She changed her mind when] she saw that Alaska was being perceived as taking from the country and not giving, and that impression bothered her and she wants to change it. ... I think that Sarah Palin is someone who has the courage to reevaluate situations as they developed." [Source]
    

Those are the facts of the situation, highly referenced by yours truly. In the interest of accuracy, if anyone has any references that dispute anything outlined above, I would most welcome them.

Political Question: If you were the Governor of any state and had received federal funds which you were allowed to use on any transportation project, would you return those funds even though your state were in great need of transportation infrastructure improvements?

Seattle Visit: Day 3

I adore Rufus but last night I naively let him into my bedroom. He quietly lay down beside my bed. I tried to fall asleep but about 10 minutes later I sniffed a few times and smelled something absolutely terrible! Big Dog had been silently tooting and was filling up the room with an unbearable smell.

So I grabbed my duvet and stumbled downstairs where I plunked myself onto Mike's couch. Immediately one of his cats, Mavic, pounced on me. As you can see here, she was still "adjusting" her pillow (ie. me) when the morning arrived.
Here's Mavic and Raleigh nestled up together in an adorable pose.
On our way over to see the Blue Angels again, Mike stopped at this delightful bagel and sandwich shop in downtown Renton, where he bought Danny & I some food for later.

This being a Saturday and the official first day of the air show, there were many more people around to watch the big event.
We strolled down onto the I-90 again, although this time onto the North span.
You can see how crowded it was on both sides of Lake Washington.
Before the main show, the Blue Angels' transport plane showed off what it could do.
Some came prepared to overcome the loud noise.
The Blue Angels put on another spectacular show!

Mike let Danny take control of his camera and capture many great shots he did!

Indeed, it was very hot.


The show attracted all kinds of folks!
The boyz enjoyed the show as much as I did!
We saw this fellow in the nearby park, selling Obama shirts. We thought to report him to Democrat headquarters for participating in what was clearly a pro-military event. Mike asked if he had any McCain shirts but he said they were all in the garbage.
After the airshow we went down to our #1 favourite store in the world, Fry's Electronics.
For dinner we tried a Mexican place in West Seattle called Puerto Vallarta. All of our meals were superb, though the portions were enormous!
Then we went over to Genessee Park to attend the official Seafair event. It wasn't really what I was expecting and I was more than a little disappointed.

Danny had fun steering a robot and climbing a wall though.

We didn't even stick around for the fireworks and instead went to go see a movie.

Seattle Visit: Day 2

The morning of our first full day in Seattle started off with walking Mike's dog, Rufus. He's about 120 lbs but absolutely the gentlest dog you'd ever meet. Once in a while his two feline housemates annoy him, which prompts a big paw smacking against the floor. Other than that, he's just a big softie.
We drove into Seattle and picked up our friend, Hannah. After getting some sandwiches at a local supermarket deli we drove across I-90 to Mercer Island.
We parked near the off-ramp and had an impromptu picnic on a grassy field that sits over top of the freeway.

The police closed the I-90 bridge at 12:45pm and then let all the pedestrians and bicyclists on a few minutes later. From there we watched the forthcoming air show.








I love my Canon G9 camera but with just a 6X optical zoom it was ill-equipped to properly capture these magnificent airplanes flying by at very fast velocities. In my earlier posting I've published some of the photos Mike shot with his 200 - 400mm zoom lens.

The most amazing thing about the airshow is how incredibly loud the planes are when they fly overhead at lower altitudes. When they're really motoring, it sounds like the air is literally being split apart. I'd never seen an airshow before and was so impressed that I'd like to make this an annual event!

After the show we dropped off Hannah and then joined some others at the P.F. Chang's at Bellevue Square. Not exactly a traditional Asian meal but the atmosphere and food are always top notch.

Later in the evening we drove downtown so that Danny could join Hannah and her friend for the midnight release of Stephenie Meyer's new book. I'm not familiar with this author but apparently she's all the rage with 15 year-old girls.
While the young ones were waiting at the Barnes & Noble, Mike & I met up with my friend, Ahmed. The three of us enjoyed some great desserts at The Cheesecake Factory.
A long day but a very memorable one!

New Westminster Quay

This is apparently the world's largest tin soldier.