Senate approves bond for Bay Bridge
renovations
SACRAMENTO “”mdash; A state Senate committee has approved a $7.7
billion bond proposal to pay for state infrastructure projects,
including the badly over-budget Bay Bridge retrofit.
The Transportation Committee voted 10-3 on Tuesday to approve
the bill, SB1024, which now goes to the Appropriations
Committee.
The proposed bond would be placed on the November 2006 ballot as
part of a bailout package for the Bay Bridge’s new eastern
span that would eventually raise tolls by $1 on all Bay Area
bridges except the Golden Gate Bridge.
About $1.3 billion of the bond funding would go to seismic
retrofit of bridges. Most of that money would pay for the new
eastern span, where cost estimates now top $6 billion.
Compiled from Bruin wire services.