SF's Bridges Are Worst in California

Be careful as you cross that bridge, and look out below: not for trolls, but for weakened supports that are in the worst condition in the state.

San Francisco's road and highway bridges are the worst-rated in California, with nearly 35 percent of spans deemed structurally-deficient, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

That's the worst scores of anywhere in California, and nearly three times as bad as the national average, according to the report. A total of 40 out of 116 bridges in San Francisco are deemed deficient, with some of the worst offenders main thruways for vehicle traffic.

The good news from the report, conducted by Transportation For America, gleaned from Federal Highway Administration data, is that both the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge are A-OK. The bad news is that some of the approaches to those spans are in bad shape.

Among the heavily-trafficked spans which scored low marks are the Central Viaduct of Highway 101, an off-ramp at 13th and Folsom streets that carries nearly 140,000 vehicles each day, the Third Street span over Mission Creek near AT&T Park, and the Geneva Avenue overpass near the Balboa Park BART Station, according to the newspaper.