Our view: No crossing

The bridge, if built, would not necessarily be good for Anchorage. Opening up new land a short drive across the Arm to development would invite more sprawl in the city. Instead of building compact and more livable neighborhoods in the city, builders would be drawn across the Arm to more profitable suburban sprawl.

That's not the only problem with the bridge. A road connecting the bridge to downtown would carry traffic in a tunnel through Government Hill, the city's oldest neighborhood. While the bridge-builders would take steps to protect Government Hill, it would still be disrupted.

The bridge would also bring industrial traffic into downtown Anchorage, right at a time when the city is trying to make downtown a safer and more attractive place for pedestrians. Dumping bridge traffic into the downtown area does not fit with other development there -- the remodeled museum, improvements to Town Square and an emphasis on wider, heated sidewalks with landscaping.

Though the backers say the bridge would be financed privately with the expectation that tolls would pay off the debt, there's still a lot of government time and attention being wasted on the project.

The two candidates in the May 5 runoff election for Anchorage mayor are divided on the value of the Knik Arm crossing.

Dan Sullivan supports it, saying it would give more people an opportunity to own a house on a good-sized lot and it would open up increased land for industry (of course, the land would be in the Mat-Su Borough).

Eric Croft is against building the bridge. He says it would hurt Anchorage's downtown core and nearby neighborhoods.

Besides the mayor's race, there'll be plenty of opportunity for debate about the bridge in coming weeks. Before the city can undertake such a major decision, it must open a public review period. Right now, the matter is still under discussion among technical committee members of AMATS, the group of city and state officials who make transportation decisions for Anchorage.

Once AMATS releases a document that would take the bridge out of the city's long-range plan, the document goes to the city Planning and Zoning Commission and the Anchorage Assembly for public hearings and recommendations, then back to AMATS.

When all is said and done, we believe the bridge is no bargain for Anchorage.

BOTTOM LINE: Drop the idea of building an expensive bridge across Knik Arm that could hurt downtown.

Electric ride

I'm not a motorhead, although some of my best friends have a cult-like obsession with a certain form of motorized winter recreation.

Unlike them, I am no big fan of tearing through the wilderness on fast-moving machines that put your eardrums at risk, scare off wildlife and pour exhaust fumes into the air. I don't own a snowmobile, an ATV or a jet boat.

But some engineering students at UAF are making me think twice about my motor-free recreational life.

They rigged up an electric-powered snowmachine that performed so well, it won second place at the Society of Automotive Engineering's annual Clean Snowmobile Challenge at Michigan Tech University. (Video available on YouTube. Search under "UAFEngineering.")

The UAF electric snowmachine was not a glorified winter go-cart. It looked like the real thing. It moved like the real thing. It just didn't sound like your typical snowmachine. It was so quiet, all you hear on the video is gentle whirring. My house cat makes almost as much noise when it purrs.

I've only taken one motorhead trip in my life, snowmachining off the Denali Highway. It was a huge thrill, zooming through open country at 70 miles an hour. Ah, so this is what that first hit of crack must feel like, I thought. If a snowmachine salesman had been along on the trip, I'd'a bought a rig, right then and there.

But on the way home, as my wrist recovered from a bad case of throttle cramp, I began to feel guilty. I'd been pouring sooty, stinky exhaust fumes into clean wilderness air and filling a tranquil winter landscape with a racket that echoed off empty mountains.

It sure was fun, though. And gee, the noise and the smell wouldn't be a problem if I got one of those electric snowmachines ...

-- Matt Zencey