Construction of the new span continues. The new bridge is currently scheduled to open in 2013.
Construction was delayed for an extended period while they fought about what kind of bridge to build. The State of California wanted to build just a "simple" side-by-side concrete causeway to replace the old iron girder eastern span that famously collapsed in the 1989 earth quake.
However, the City of San Francisco, and surrounding communities, complained that they wanted to have a more fancy "signature" span, to compliment their skyline. They wanted a new high-tech single-pillar suspension bridge, so that it will look cool. The single-pillar suspension bridge will also cost a LOT more, something on the order of an additional billion dollars.
The State of California fought it (and the folks in Southern California complained that they did not want to have to pay to build San Francisco's extra-fancy bridge). However, in the end, the Bay Area politico's prevailed, and it was agreed that the fancy bridge will be built instead of the plain bridge.
Construction resumed after all of the fighting subsided. Of course, during the time that construction was shut down for arguing, all of the Chinese-made concrete and steel went up in cost, and several hundred million dollars was added to the budget as a result.
In the end, when the replacement span opens in 2013, it will probably be one of the most expensive bridges in the USA. I LOVE California!!!
Vastly more transportation funds go to SoCal. The Bay Area has gone begging for decades. Of course, they spend most of what they do get on wasteful mass transit.
KSFO was musing this morning that the $7.8 Billion price tag for the new HALF of the Bay Bridge, which is 4 years behind schedule and 20 years behind reality, is but the second largest construction project. Didn’t hear if they mentioned number 1, but my money’s on Boston’s “Big Pig”, which has done diddly-squat to help the traffic from what I can tell in my trips there recently.
In a similar story (and there are many similar stories across the country), a new supermarket opened recently in the city of Berkeley, California, after, as I understand it, a 5 year fight.