The US$900 million Knik Arm Crossing would be a 2.8km toll bridge over Cook Inlet’s Knik Arm, connecting Anchorage - Alaska’s largest city - with the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska’s fastest-growing region.
A crossing was first envisioned in 1923 as providing a more direct route to the gold fields in Alaska's interior. Since then, the idea has been regularly revisited. In 2003, the Alaska State Legislature formed a corporation with Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF) and the Knik Arm Bridge & Toll Authority (Kabata) to pursue the scheme. The authority completed the final environmental impact statement in 2007 and the Federal Highway Administration issued a record of decision in 2010.
Recent legislation means that the project will be transferred to DOT&PF, while Kabata remains as the future tolling authority. DOT&PF is now working with other parties including project staff and Kabata to develop the project.
