The California Department of Transportation plans to start construction a year earlier than planned on the replacement project for Doyle Drive, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced today.
Doyle Drive is the main southern approach to the Golden Gate Bridge that connects the San Francisco peninsula to the north. It was originally constructed as a post disaster discovery route and will be replaced with a new parkway connecting San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Presidio of San Francisco.
Newsom and Pelosi also announced expediting the project could save taxpayers $90 million.
"Together, we will build not only a new bridge, but a new opportunity for job creation and economic recovery here in San Francisco," Pelosi said in a prepared statement.
She said the new parkway is possible with the state's nearly $2.6 billion share of highway funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Newsom said the project, which has been in progress for more than 15 years, "is shovel ready and a signature example of how the federal stimulus can close the funding gap, stimulate the economy, improve transportation and create jobs in San Francisco."
Redirected federal earmarks, the $90 million saved from speeding up the process, the state's share of federal stimulus funds and other resources helped fill a $400 million funding gap that was announced in January 2008, according to Newsom's office. Construction is now scheduled to start sometime this year instead of in 2010.
