Talk of Toll's Return
It's pretty to look at it and convenient to use but are you willing to pay to drive it?
If you've driven across it, you probably relate to that tingly feeling you get when you ascend over the Coronado Bridge and see those spectacular views of Downtown San Diego and Coronado.
Now, after 40 years the bridge is back in the news with an anniversary and talk of bringing back the bridge toll.
It's hard to image the Bay without the sweeping and distinctive curve of the two and a quarter mile San Diego-Coronado Bridge.
"This is something very unique, there is nothing like this bridge in the whole world," said Susan Enowitz.
But for decades before the bridge was built, the San Diego-Coronado Ferry system was the most popular way to get back and forth over the Bay.
Talk of a bridge wasn't always popular in Coronado.
"The community was very divided and half the community, or more than half the community because they voted the bridge down several times in Coronado," said Enowitz.
But finally in 1967, construction of the $50 million bridge started. It was completed in 1969. Today, with tourists, residents and the military, the bridge is a transportation link many people could not do without.
"The bridge has become a part of everyone's life, there's no questioning that," said Enowitz.
Initially there was a 60-cent toll, collected on the Coronado side, to help pay for the bridge. It later went up to a dollar but ended in 2002.
However there is talk of bringing back the toll.
Up to 90,000 vehicles a day cross the bridge, two-thirds of that is military personnel going to and from two Coronado Naval bases. During rush hours, Coronado streets are jammed.
"No one likes to sit in traffic," said Coronado City Engineer Ed Walton. "On any given day you can experience a half hour delay getting over the Bridge, you know, and it's only going to get worse."
According to Walton, that's where the bridge toll comes in. The city is thinking about bringing back a toll to pay for traffic congestion relief in Coronado. One idea, talked about for years, is an underground traffic tunnel, mostly for Navy base personnel. Once off the bridge, the military traffic would go into the tunnel. Then the one-mile tunnel would travel below ground along a line through Coronado and traffic would pop out at the entrance to Naval Air Station North Island.
"The studies have found that the tunnel is a feasible.The technology's there, it can be constructed, it can relieve some of the congestion we experience," Walton said. "It's just got a hefty price tag to it." A price tag that's $400 to $500 million.
A toll anywhere from $1.50 to $5 a vehicle each way would help pay for the tunnel but with studies and more public input, a timetable even for a City "recommendation" on what to do is way off.
"We're looking spring, summer and depending on how things go, possibly fall of 2010," said Walton.
Coronado has already spent $10 million studying proposals to alleviate traffic congestion. It's like a new stadium for the Chargers, or a new downtown San Diego Library, a lot of talk and money but no decisions yet on what to do.
