The aptly named “Bridge to Nowhere” in Ketchikan, Alaska, helped make “earmark” a dirty word – in Washington, D.C., and across the country.

But before some politicians tried to gouge taxpayers with superfluous projects in their home districts just to earn a few votes, many earmarks actually have benefited the public at large.

Take the Algonquin Western Bypass project. Funded in part by federal earmarks, the $33.3 million project to alleviate congestion in downtown Algonquin finally has begun after decades in the making.