A state judge heard arguments Friday from the mayors of two Mat-Su towns who want to block a decision to push the proposed Knik Arm crossing further back in Anchorage's transportation plan, and scheduled another hearing in mid-July.

The mayors of Houston and Wasilla claim in a suit filed last week that the AMATS Policy Committee broke federal public notice requirements and its own procedures when it voted Thursday on a compromise to delay construction until at least 2018. The move keeps the bridge project alive, but also adds new conditions and elements, including a heavy rail link and pedestrian and bicycle facilities.

The mayors' attorney, Richard Payne, said the compromise "drastically changes" the original proposal to either delete the bridge entirely or leave its status unchanged.

Such a change should have keyed a new 30-day public notice requirement before action, Payne said. Instead, the mayors learned about it only after a newspaper story appeared two days before the policy committee's meeting, he said.

Attorneys representing the state and city members of the AMATS committee, however, called the compromise "a half-step." It was "fully within the scope of what the public had an opportunity to comment on," said Assistant Attorney General Jeff Stark.

The mayors had asked for an emergency court order blocking any change for 10 days. Judge Sen Tan said he would think about that over the weekend, but scheduled a second hearing for July 15 to hear more arguments on a longer-term injunction.

Stark and Assistant Municipal Attorney Robert Owens said nothing is likely to happen as a result of the committee's vote in the next 30 days, anyway.

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