Zócalo's Connecting California
DOING ‘BIG’ BETTER
When it comes to getting big things done in California, the Bay Bridge between San Francisco and Oakland offers important lessons about what not to do.
By Joe Mathews • • 5m ListenRebuilding the eastern span of the Bay Bridge after it was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake cost taxpayers more than $6 billion. But the new bridge doesn’t look much better than the old one, it hasn’t reduced traffic, and it may be less safe than the previous design. The price of tolls to cross the span has also gone way up. Zocalo Public Square commentator Joe Mathews says the politicians and government agencies responsible for the Bay Bridge fiasco failed to heed two key dictum of mega-projects: be transformative and be frugal. Are you listening, Gavin Newsom?