SAN FRANCISCO -- It briefly looked like a scene out of a "Terminator" movie, with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger standing in the middle of San Francisco wielding a blow-torch, but he was actually just helping inaugurate the new approach to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Instead of a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the permanent Interstate 80 structure, organizers went the industrial route with Governor Schwarzenegger cutting through a chain with a blow torch to christen the project. Bridge officials also celebrated the fact that the entire project will be completed seven months ahead of schedule, California Department of Transportation spokesman Bart Ney said.

The governor and the mayors from both side of the span -- San Francisco's Gavin Newsom and Oakland's Ron Dellums -- were on hand and spoke to gathered reporters.

Caltrans thinks the new approach -- set to open late Friday night or early Saturday morning -- will make it faster for commuters to get on the bridge from the San Francisco side.

The new section cost 429 million dollars to construct and is part of the massive ongoing retrofit project for the Bay Bridge.

Traffic will be switched from the temporary eastbound Interstate 80 portion of the West Approach to the newly built highway structure, Ney said. The opening of the new stretch of highway will allow motorists a straight drive onto the bridge, officials said.

The West Approach is a 1-mile section of Interstate 80 between Fifth Street and the beginning of the bridge anchorage at Beale Street, according to Ney.

The West Approach Project, scheduled for full completion in January 2009, is a seismic safety project that will result in the replacement of section of Highway 80 as well as three onramps and three off-ramps.

Work to the West Approach has been conducted while keeping traffic moving, using temporary structures built to detour drivers while permanent sections of the approach are demolished and rebuilt, according to bridge officials. Some rerouting onto city streets has also been conducted.

Portions of the project left for completion include additional widening of the highway and reopening the Harrison Street off-ramp, Ney said.