Alaska's $64 million 'runway to nowhere'

Millions in federal dollars are being pumped into a massive transit project in a tiny, remote Alaskan community. Sound familiar?

A polar bear stands near an Alaskan airport runway
(Image credit: Steven Kazlowski/Science Faction/Corbis)

The tiny Alaskan hamlet of Akutan is getting a new $64 million airport, paid for almost entirely with federal tax dollars. But the airport isn't on Akutan — a remote island in the Aleutian chain, with about 100 year-round inhabitants. It's on Akun, an uninhabited island next door. And with the airport slated to be finished soon, Alaska officials still don't know how they're going to get passengers from Akun to Akutan. Sour memories of Alaska's scrapped $398 million "bridge to nowhere" are still fresh, says Rachel Rose Hartman at Yahoo News, but if no reliable transportation fix is found, Akutan "will essentially have a 'runway to nowhere'." Here's what you should know:

What is $64 million buying?

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