REDMOND , Washington ( CNN ) -- Should a bridge that would connect two campuses at Microsoft 's headquarters be funded with $ 11 million from the federal stimulus package ? An artist 's rendering shows how the proposed bridge would be constructed over a busy highway . Critics of using stimulus money for the bridge say it would give the software giant a break on a pet project . They also say it serves as a warning sign of how some stimulus money is not being used to finance new projects but is being diverted to public works already under way . Supporters argue the bridge is an ideal public-private partnership that will benefit an entire community while fulfilling the stimulus package 's goal of getting people back to work . `` It 's going create just under 400 jobs for 18 months constructing the bridge , '' says Redmond Mayor John Marchione . `` It 's also connecting our technical sector with our retail and commercial sectors so people can cross the freeway to shop and help traffic flow . '' See a larger image of the proposed bridge » . Marchione applied for federal stimulus money after costs jumped on the project from $ 25 million to $ 36 million . Marchione says the increase in costs were due to a rise in construction prices and because the bridge will be built on a diagonal in order to connect Microsoft 's original East campus with a newer West campus that are split by a public highway . Microsoft is hardly getting the bridge for free . The company is contributing $ 17.5 million or a little less than half the tab of the $ 36 million bridge , which would be open for public use . And even though the bridge goes from a parking lot behind Microsoft 's West campus across a highway to an entrance of Microsoft 's East campus , Marchione says , people other than Microsoft employees would use the overpass . `` We 're not a one-company town , '' Marchione says . `` Our traffic studies show that Microsoft traffic would be about 42 percent of the bridge , yet Microsoft is paying for about 50 percent of the bridge , so we think we are getting fair value . `` The United States taxpayer is leveraging their dollars , and I think everyone is getting a fair deal . '' But a watchdog group monitoring how stimulus money is being spent says the taxpayer in this case is getting ripped off . `` This is $ 11 million where we are substituting public money for private money , and that means there 's some other project that would have a greater benefit than a bridge to Microsoft that 's not being built , '' says Steve Ellis , vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense . But without the stimulus money , Marchione counters , the bridge may not have been built . Microsoft had `` capped out '' its contribution to the project , he explains . And the economic tough times have affected even the biggest companies . `` Microsoft laid off 5,000 people in January , '' Marchione points out . Ellis does n't buy it . `` Let 's face it . Microsoft is one of the most lucrative companies in the country , '' Ellis says . `` They could have easily funded this out of pocket change . This is really about getting while the getting is good . Uncle Sam has a big wallet that 's there for the taking , and Redmond wanted to take it -- and Microsoft was happy to let them pick up that part of the tab . '' Microsoft did not respond to CNN requests for an interview on the bridge project . But in a posting online , Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith wrote : `` As the largest employer in Redmond , Microsoft takes its responsibility to the surrounding community seriously . We have spent over $ 50 million to assist the City of Redmond and other local governments with street construction , transit facilities , water and sewer facilities and fire equipment . '' Last week , Washington Gov . Chris Gregoire certified 138 projects , including the bridge , to receive stimulus funding . Construction is expected to begin in June . Michael Ennis of the Washington Policy Center , a Seattle-based not-for-profit group that advises policy makers , said there are many reasons the bridge project is a good one . `` Any time you can include the private sector in funding transportation projects , it 's a win-win situation , '' Ennis explains . `` The state has a monopoly on our roads system . Even if Microsoft wanted to pay for this project on their own , legally they are required to work with the public sector . '' But Ennis also says the bridge does not fit with the kind of projects the stimulus plan is meant to bankroll . `` This project would have moved forward regardless of having the federal money or not , so it does n't have any additional benefit to the economy , '' he says . As he pedaled on his bicycle to work , one Microsoft employee saw the issue in much simpler terms . `` It 's going to cut about two miles off my ride each day , '' he said .
Project would build bridge between Microsoft 's two communities . Microsoft paying for about half of the $ 36 million cost . Microsoft backs plan , says bridge would benefit entire community . Taxpayer lobby ##ist says project a good deal of waste .