Golden Gate Bridge approach,
North Bay projects get funding

By Jason Bennert, Bay City News Service

February 28, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - The California Transportation Commission today dedicated $405 million in state highway funds to Doyle Drive, the San Francisco approach to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Earlier this week, the project had been left off the list of projects recommended by CTC staff for Proposition 1B funds. However, after a strenuous lobbying campaign by San Francisco's state legislators and local elected officials, Caltrans Director Will Kempton committed to funding the Doyle Drive project with money from a state fund dedicated to roadway safety improvements, the State Highway Operation and Protection Program, according to Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco.

"I am greatly relieved that Director Kempton and Caltrans are supporting funding for the replacement of the seismically unsafe and dangerous Doyle Drive connector that was literally designed for the Model T,'' Leno said in a statement. "The $405 million combined with funding from a local sales tax passed by San Francisco voters in 2003 and anticipated federal funding would put us well on our way to having a median-divided Doyle Drive designed for modern traffic flow.''

Doyle Drive was built in 1936 and has received a very poor safety rating from the Federal Highway Administration, according to Leno's office.

"Doyle Drive is a vital regional link utilized by over 100,000 commuters every day. I am pleased that the California Transportation Committee has approved the funds needed to rebuild this facility and ensure its seismic safety,'' San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said in a statement.

The CTC also allocated funding for a pair of North Bay projects that were not on an earlier list of recommended projects: $20 million for improvements to the westbound Interstate Highway 580 and U.S. Highway 101 interchange in Marin County and $82 million to fund part of the Novato Narrows project, according to state Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco.

"San Francisco and North Bay residents, taxpayers and commuters are the winners today,'' Migden said. "We were tenacious in our undeterred advocacy to bring this $500 million in funding home and it's a victory our constituents deserve after tolerating years of congestion.''

The CTC allocated approximately $1.3 billion of the $4.5 billion in available Proposition 1B funds to Bay Area projects. The Doyle Drive improvements will be funded by a different source and are not included in that total.

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