The Assembly's 8-2 vote is just a recommendation for the future of the bridge linking Anchorage and Point MacKenzie. Ultimately, a five-member committee of state and local officials will decide whether to include the bridge on the influential list.

“All it does really is keep the planning process alive, and I don't have a problem with that,” Assembly Chairman Dan Sullivan said.

The deciding committee includes Sullivan, fellow Assembly member Chris Birch and Mayor Mark Begich.

Putting the project on the list would keep the much-debated project alive by triggering federal funding and letting investors know that Anchorage is committed to building the bridge. The authority estimates the bridge would cost about $600 million and plans for private investors to pay for most of it.

“Nobody is going to put a private dollar in there if they don't feel that those estimates are correct,” said Henry Springer, who is head of the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority. “They're not going to risk a $500 million investment in something that's going to have big overruns.”

Supporters also argue that Anchorage is a growing city and the bridge would allow further expansion.

Critics said the bridge would divert money from more pressing transportation needs and could threaten beluga whales in Cook Inlet.

“I like to think of it as Ôbridgezilla' because it's going to eat up transportation projects that are more important to our community,” said Randy Virgin, director of the Alaska Center for the Environment.

So far, two potential investors have stepped forward. One was URS Corp., which bills itself on its Web site as one of the largest engineering design firms in the world and as a leading federal government contractor. The other is a group calling itself the “KAC constructors consortium.”

Springer said the bridge authority hopes to decide on its partner for the bridge project by the end of the year.