Knik bridge agency plans intervention in case

Anchorage Daily News / adn.com

Published: July 7th, 2009 08:13 PM
Last Modified: July 7th, 2009 08:14 PM

The state agency created to push for a Knik Arm bridge says it will try to intervene in a court case seeking to block a delay in the project. The suit was filed by the cities of Wasilla and Houston. The Mat-Su communities are asking a judge to block a decision by the AMATS Policy Committee to push the bridge project further back in Anchorage's long-range transportation plan. The AMATS decision would mean that construction couldn't begin until at least 2018.

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The mayors of Wasilla and Houston argue that neither they nor the public had a chance to comment on the delay.

In a written statement issued Tuesday morning, the executive director of the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority says the authority is the agency most directly affected by the AMATS decision and "quite frankly their action has shown complete disregard for the facts or the cooperative public process."

Superior Court Judge Sens Tan refused to issue a 10-day temporary restraining order after a hearing last week, but scheduled a second hearing for July 15.

City and state attorneys representing the members of the AMATS committee say the agency did nothing wrong in delaying the project and adding some new elements to it, including a railroad link and pedestrian facilities.