Politics & Government
Update: Golden Gate Bridge Board Unanimously Approves $26.5 Million Lane Barrier Project
Moveable concrete and steel barriers are expected to reduce the number of head-on collisions on the Golden Gate Bridge.
Update Friday, Sept. 20: The Golden Gate Bridge Board of Directors on Friday unanimously approved the $26.5 million project to install new lane barriers designed to make the bridge safer.
As a result, the bridge will be closed late next year for the longest stretch in its history so workers can install the barriers.
The steel and concrete moveable barriers will replace those much maligned yellow plastic tubes, providing what engineers hope will be a much safer dividing line between opposing lanes of traffic.
From 2006 to 2010, according to a district press release, there were 306 collisions, with 83 injuries and no fatalities, resulting in an accident rate of 0.85 per million vehicles. The last head-on, crossover fatality was in July 2001.
The Golden Gate District Building Committee is expected to approve the $26.5 million project at its 10 a.m. meeting Thursday. (See agenda here.) The full board would then OK it at its regular meeting Friday.
The project is expected to take a year to complete. The 52-hour closure would take place on a weekend in October or November of 2014.
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