Drivers from both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge are concerned about how the repairs to Doyle Drive will hit their pockets. Marin County officials are opposed to raising tolls on the Golden Gate Bridge, which currently has the highest toll of any bridge in the Bay Area, to help pay for rebuilding Doyle Drive. The elevated 1.5-mile road was built in 1936 and now carries 120,000 vehicles a day. It is crucial to the flow of traffic between San Francisco and the North Bay. Doyle Drive needs to be rebuilt and made seismically safe. Caltrans rates its structural integrity as a 2 on a scale of 1 to 100. The San Francisco Transportation Authority estimates the cost of the project at over $1 billion. The war of words between the San Francisco and Marin counties is over who should contribute and how much would be fair. There is a March 31st deadline, by which time the parties must come to a compromise or risk forfeiture of funding. Currently the state has contributed about $475 million, San Francisco is contributing $68 million from sales tax revenues, and the federal government is contributing $58 million from the Urban Partnership program. There's still a $460 million shortfall to complete the badly needed reconstruction project.
With:
Rachel Gordon.
Airdate: February 22, 2008
Additional Resources
Toll Dispute Threatens Doyle Drive Makeover
Michael Cabanatuan, Rachel Gordon, San Francisco Chronicle
Doyle Drive Plan Must Start With Regional Fairness
Marin Independent Journal
Doyle Drive Is Too Vital To Play Games With Seismic Work
Marin Independent Journal
San Francisco County Transportation Authority
PODCAST
