FACTS AT A GLANCE

LOCATION: Interstate 680 between Solano and Contra Costa counties

STRUCTURE: Deck truss

LENGTH: 1.2 miles

VERTICAL CLEARANCE: 138 feet

CHANNEL SPAN: 528 feet

OPENED: September 1962 (widened in 1991, paralell structure in 2007)

COST:

Original Structure - $25 million

2007 Parallel Structure- $1.2 billion

AUTO TOLL: $4

COLLECTION: One-way, northbound in Martinez

TRAFFIC LANES: Three in southern direction, five in northern direction

FY 2005-06 TOTAL TOLL-PAID VEHICLES: 17,063,003

FY 2005-06 TOTAL BASE TOLLS COLLECTED: $21,051,159

While it took a half-century of traffic growth to require a bridge to replace the ferries crossing the Carquinez Strait between Benicia and Martinez, it took only a couple of decades for ballooning traffic on Interstates 680 and 780 to overwhelm the Benicia-Martinez Bridge, also known as the George Miller Jr. Bridge.

To accommodate the growth, as well as meet seismic safety standards, Caltrans has widened and seismically retrofitted the existing Benicia-Martinez Bridge. As part of the RM 1 program, BATA and Caltrans have completed a second parallel span that will carry five lanes of northbound traffic. The second span opened to traffic on August 25, 2007 and is named in honor of George Miller III. The existing span will be converted to carry four lanes of southbound traffic as well as a new bicycle and pedestrian pathway by the year 2009.

A new Benicia-Martinez Toll Plaza has been constructed and features Northern California's first open road tolling system allowing FasTrak customers to travel through the toll plaza at 55mph.

See also: New Benicia-Martinez Bridge

See also: Seismic Retrofit Program