Gravina Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gravina Island is an island in the Gravina Islands of the Alexander Archipelago in southeastern Alaska. It is 21 miles (34 km) long and about 9.5 miles (15.3 km) wide,[1], with a land area of 245.55 square kilometres (94.81 sq mi). The island had a population of 50 persons at the 2000 census.
The Spanish explorer Jacinto Caamaño named the Gravina Islands group in 1792.[2] George Vancouver applied the name to Gravina Island itself in 1793. The name honors Federico Carlos Gravina y Nápoli.[1]
Ketchikan International Airport is located on Gravina Island across the Tongass Narrows (1/2 mile) from Ketchikan and is reached by a ferry service which takes between three and seven minutes and runs at least every half-hour.
[edit] Proposed Bridge
In August 2005 the 2005 Highway Bill provided for $223m to build the Gravina Island Bridge between Gravina Island and nearby Ketchikan. The subsidies were negotiated by Alaska's Rep. Don Young. This bridge had been nicknamed "the Bridge to Nowhere" by its critics. However, in September 2007, Governor Sarah Palin canceled the project after the U.S. federal government withdrew funding for the bridge and transferred the funds to the state to use at their discretion for road projects. [3]
