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For Immediate Release

New Carquinez Bridge Opens

Replacement span named the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge

CONTACT:

Kena Hudson, Caltrans
510.286.6120

Randy Rentschler, MTC
510.817.5780

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 8, 2003...A new landmark for the San Francisco Bay Area debuted today, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2003. The new westbound span of the Carquinez Bridge opened amid day-long celebrations in Vallejo and Crockett, headlined by a keynote speech by Governor Gray Davis. The graceful, twin-towered structure is the first major suspension bridge to be built in the U.S. in 30 years – and the first in California since the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge were completed in 1936 and 1937 respectively.

The new span is named in honor of the late Alfred Zampa, a local ironworker who helped build the original 1927 Carquinez Bridge, as well as the parallel 1958 span and four other Bay Area toll bridges.

Some 15,000 members of the public braved stormy weather to celebrate and walk across the bridge’s road deck, which will open to traffic in the coming week. The Nov. 8 ceremony was emceed by Jeff Morales, state director, California Department of Transportation, and also featured speeches by Congressman George Miller; Steve Kinsey, chair of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission/Bay Area Toll Authority; and Dick Zampa, son of Al Zampa.

"Caltrans is proud to honor the hard work and dedication of the men and women who built this bridge," said Bijan Sartipi, director of Caltrans District 4. Caltrans was responsible for the design, construction and day-to-day management of the replacement bridge project, while funding and oversight lay in the hands of the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), whose members also serve on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the transportation planning, funding and coordinating agency for the nine Bay Area counties.

"We have the voters of the Bay Area to thank for this magnificent structure," stated Steve Kinsey, MTC/BATA chair and Marin County supervisor. "It was their foresight in approving Regional Measure 1 – which raised the bridge tolls to pay for this bridge as well as many other important transportation improvements in the Bay Area – that made this day possible."

Festivities kicked off in the morning with a street fair organized by the local community in Crockett, the southern anchorage of the Carquinez Bridge. The 1 p.m. ceremony was highlighted by the cutting of a symbolic iron chain by members of the Zampa family. A parade of antique cars and high school marching bands led dignitaries and local residents from the north end of the bridge in Vallejo to the other side of the Carquinez Strait.

The celebrations were capped by spectacular evening fireworks paid for by the community-based Bridge Celebration Committee and the first lighting of the bridge. With its "Carquinez Red" main cables, green railings and gray concrete towers, the span will be a striking sight not only at its dramatic nightly lighting but also in the bright light of day.

The new westbound span of the Carquinez Bridge will carry four lanes of Interstate 80 traffic, including a carpool lane, and features two 10-foot-wide shoulders to ease the clearing of stalls and accidents. The new bridge also will provide pedestrians and bicyclists with a link between Contra Costa and Solano counties: A pedestrian/bike lane scheduled for completion in early 2004 will close a gap in the regional Bay Trail.

Vista points are in the process of being constructed – one on either side of the bridge – and even the area below the bridge is expected to get an overhaul: Caltrans is working with the local community to develop the site as a new gateway for the town of Crockett.

The new Carquinez Bridge’s price tag of $500 million – paid for entirely by Regional Measure 1 bridge tolls – includes rebuilding the I-80/Crockett interchange, construction of a maintenance facility and new north and south approaches to the bridge, as well as the demolition of the old westbound span, which is scheduled to be completed in 2006.

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