Cost Overruns Take Toll on Bridge Retrofitting
- Share via
The tab for strengthening the state’s toll bridges against earthquakes, a job already costing twice initial 1990s estimates, could rise an additional $630 million and imperil other transportation projects, a new state audit warns.
The audit, released this week, chronicles how a $2.2-billion project to retrofit seven major bridges by 2004 has turned into a $4.6-billion project that will take until 2009.
According to the audit, most of the cost overruns and delays stem from a single development--a $1.3-billion “signature” upgrade for the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
Bay Area bridge tolls doubled in 1998 from $1 to $2 to pay for the upgrade, and will continue to 2038, long beyond their original 2008 expiration date.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
