MTC ferry tour highlights bridge maintenance needs

Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, was joined by MTC staff and others for a San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge structure tour last week.

The ferry tour gave Wicks — Chair of the Appropriations Committee  — and others a close-up view of the 88-year old span and its maintenance needs. The tour was covered by the San Francisco Chronicle, which noted of the bridge: "The paint on its towers is peeling. Its cables have to be turned inside out for inspections. Its fenders, at the base of the piers, should be replaced."

The Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) is responsible for keeping the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges structurally sound and in a state of good repair — an ongoing job. Bridge toll dollars from the more than 342,000 paid trips each day fund bridge maintenance and the Bay Area’s overall transportation system.

Last year, BATA approved an asset management policy and a set of objectives for the continued maintenance and operation of the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges. 

The policy is based on four principles: focusing on people and safety; addressing maintenance and rehabilitation costs over each bridge’s entire life cycle; adopting a quantifiable approach to asset management; and promoting sustainability and ongoing enhancements to each span. 

The state-owned bridges are maintained through a 26-year-old partnership between Caltrans and BATA that, since 2007, has invested more than $1.7 billion in toll funds on restoring the bridges and associated toll facilities. BATA’s Capital Improvement Plan commits another $2.3 billion for toll bridge upkeep through 2033.

BATA has completed a comprehensive life-cycle analysis to guide maintenance and rehabilitation plans for the eastbound Carquinez Bridge and the southbound Benicia-Martinez Bridge.

It is now working with Caltrans to prepare an updated assessment of all seven toll bridges’ maintenance needs over the next 50 years. This assessment is scheduled for completion this year. 

With the Bay Bridge West Span (opened in 1936), the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (1956) and the eastbound Carquinez Bridge (1958) now senior citizens, and the original Benicia-Martinez (1962), San Mateo-Hayward (1967), Antioch (1978) and Dumbarton (1984) bridges into or approaching middle age, a growing share of toll dollars will be needed to keep these vital Bay Area bridges in a state of good repair.