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JUNEAU -- A legislative audit requested by a supporter of the belittled "Bridge to Nowhere" concludes the state Department of Transportation should not have begun construction of a new highway on Ketchikan's Gravina Island until knowing for certain the span would be built.

Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, sought the audit last year. He and Rep. Kyle Johansen, R-Ketchikan, criticized then-Gov. Sarah Palin's for canceling the project after it had received federal and state appropriations. Despite the cancellation, the Transportation Department spent $26 million of the federal money to build a road to where a bridge might go. The state Division of Legislative Audit decided the spending, though legal, wasn't wise.

"The decision to proceed with the highway construction in May 2007 was not in the public's best interest given the lack of congressional financial support for the bridges and the significant increase in estimated cost," states the audit obtained by the Juneau Empire newspaper.

Improving access between Ketchikan and its airport on nearby Gravina Island has been an issue for decades, long before interest groups opposed to Congressional earmarks ridiculed the bridge project and provided the derisive nickname.

Palin supported the nearly $400 million bridge when she campaigned for governor. But she axed the project and listed it among her fiscally conservative credentials while campaigning as John McCain's running mate last year.

Palin, in the Republican National Convention speech that made her a star, said she told Congress "thanks but no thanks" on the Bridge to Nowhere. The line continued to bring cheers on the campaign trail, but drew winces back home among those who knew Palin had supported the project and only turned against it after Washington backed off its financing.