And Lindauer was from Chicago.
The bridges aren't really to nowhere. I think they would be a waste of money, but one was to connect Ketchikan to Gravina Island where the airport is located, the other was intended to connect the Matanuska-Susitna borough (Alaska doesn't have counties, boroughs are political subdivisions) to Anchorage. Right now there is just one road and when it is closed due to accident or weather, there is no alternate route.
Murkowski did go against the legislature to buy the jet which is too big to land on many of the airstrips around the state.
He also did away with the longevity bonus which was paid to older Alaskans. It was already being phased out, but he chose to end it abruptly. The legislature voted to reinstate it, he vetoed the bill.
He claims to have brought the state back from the brink of bankruptcy but that likely has a lot more to do with oil selling for $70 a barrel instead of the $9 it brought during his predecessor's tenure. (I think those figures are roughly correct.)