Tolls Pay Off Coronado Bridge 17 Years Early

With little fanfare, the Coronado Bridge’s $50-million construction bill was paid off Tuesday--17 years ahead of schedule.

Motorists, however, will continue to pay the $1.20 toll, perhaps indefinitely if state Department of Transportation officials give the go-ahead for the construction of a tunnel beneath Fourth Street in Coronado, said Jim Gray, deputy district director for Caltrans.

State officials had estimated that the construction bonds would be paid off sometime in July, but they discovered last month that enough revenue had been raised to transfer the final installment to Bank of America by Tuesday, Gray said.

More than $8 million is collected in tolls each year from the 50,000 cars that cross the bridge daily. About $2.5 million of that is used to repair and maintain the 11,000-foot steel and concrete structure.

Caltrans is considering using the nearly $6 million in annual profit from the tolls to build a one-mile tunnel from the bridge to North Island Naval Air Station.

A report on the proposal will be submitted to the state Transportation Commission by July 1, and the final decision on whether to keep the $1.20 toll intact or reduce it to cover just the costs of bridge maintenance will be made by January, 1987, Gray said.

Legislation sponsored by Sen. Jim Ellis (R-San Diego) would keep the toll in effect through January, or indefinitely if state officials come up with plans to eliminate traffic problems on the bridge, which is the primary access to the naval base.

“This money is not a pot of gold for everybody in the state to dip their hands in,” said Coronado Mayor R.H. Dorman, who favors construction of the tunnel to ease traffic congestion in his city. “If they nix the tunnel idea, then I hope they reduce the toll.”

Another improvement that could be funded with excess toll revenue is a portable rubber median to separate traffic on the bridge, Gray said.