By the time the $1.6 billion bridge is built, it will be in a better shape than the one that crossed the Bay Bridge, when a major collapse in a section of the span caused a major disaster and nearly 300 people were killed.
The construction of the bridge, to be named for famed Bay Area actor and Bay Area resident Richard Barnard, is expected to be finished by 2025.
The cost of the project has already been estimated at $1 billion.
But the construction of a new bridge in the region that spans the Sacramento River and the San Francisco Bay has been delayed for decades because of a lack of funding.
It was one of the last major projects to be approved by the state legislature, and has been the subject of intense criticism from environmental groups and some lawmakers who say it’s a massive infrastructure project that won’t be completed in time for the 2020 Census.
The bridge would span the Sacramento, San Francisco and Oakland rivers and span the span in about six months.
The project was first proposed in the late 1990s and has taken nearly a decade to complete.
“I believe that the bridge should be finished in 2025,” Gov.
Jerry Brown said in a statement after the announcement of the new bridge.
“I am proud that the Legislature has finally given the State of California the necessary money to complete this important project.”
The bridge is expected be completed by 2025, with construction expected to start in 2021.
“The construction and rehabilitation of the $2 billion bridge and the subsequent construction of two additional bridges across the Sacramento Valley and the Bay Area will be completed,” Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom said in his State of the State address on Jan. 2.
“The new bridge will be the most comprehensive and safest bridge in California, providing safe, easy access for the people of Sacramento and the region.”
In recent years, construction has slowed in part because of concerns about corrosion on the span, and the state has been trying to find a contractor for the project.
The state has asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to help identify a contractor.
