Golden Gate Bridge toll booths set for retrofitting

"The bridge is always moving towards safety," assured Golden Gate Bridge District spokeswoman Priya Clemens.

The need for the retrofit was discovered during the planning process for the moveable median barrier.

"During the design phase for the movable median barrier project we knew we'd be modifying the plaza," Clemens explained. "At that point we needed to check and see if the plaza would then need to be seismically retrofitted to bring it up to modern standards."

The original toll plaza structure was there when the Golden Gate Bridge opened in May of 1937. It has been altered over the years, but is not up to current earthquake standards.

40 million vehicles cross the bridge span every year. The toll booths included in the $600,000 retrofit project are numbers 3, 5, and 7.

"As we retrofit each toll booth, we close one lane associated with it for the duration for the entire length of construction and then we close a second lane at night as well," said Clemens.

Crews are working on one booth at a time. It will take approximately one month to retrofit each of them. Lane closures at the toll plaza will change as the work shifts to each booth.

"We'd prefer to have all the lanes open if we could," Clemens said. "Ultimately the work needs to be done, even if there is a little bit of a traffic delay caused by it."