San Francisco Chronicle reports, “Three years after it opened, the eastern span of the Bay Bridge has been beset with so many problems that a multimillion-dollar rainy-day fund set aside for unanticipated expenses has been nearly devoured, leaving toll-payers responsible for any additional costs,” and the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee provided a report to the state legislature last week stating that “just $67.7 million remains in the contingency fund, far short of the estimated $184 million bridge authorities say they need.” An MTC spokesperson says toll increases will not be needed to fill the funding gap. The newspaper adds, “Instead, cash that the authority has already banked for improvements on the region’s toll bridges and their approaches will cover the costs. ‘When you go over budget, you lose opportunities,’ said Andrew Fremier, deputy executive director of the toll authority.” Click here and scroll down to page 28 of the PDF to read the committee’s report on the reserve fund.
