City Urged to Use Coronado Bridge Tolls for Barrio Logan Projects

San Diego city officials were asked Friday to examine ways to use tolls from the Coronado Bridge to improve Barrio Logan, the historic Chicano neighborhood that was devastated by bridge and highway construction two decades ago.

Last week, the California Transportation Commission decided to retain the $1 round-trip toll until at least mid-1995, but authorities earmarked the estimated $25 million in tolls until mid-1995 for bridge upkeep and for traffic projects along bridge approaches in Coronado. The tolls have already paid for bridge construction costs.

By statute, the toll funds--which are state, not city revenues--can now only be used for maintenance, rehabilitation and traffic improvements on the bridge and its approaches, said Mariana Mejia, a spokeswoman in Sacramento with the California Department of Transportation.

Whether that requirement can be met and the funds directed toward bridge-related projects in Barrio Logan remains an open question. “They (San Diego officials) will have to work around it creatively,” said Mejia, the Caltrans spokeswoman.

On Friday, Councilman Bob Filner formally requested that City Manager John Lockwood investigate the use of tolls for a variety of Barrio Logan projects, including traffic improvements on city streets leading to the bridge and the upkeep and expansion of Chicano Park. The park, which is situated in the shadow of the bridge’s eastern terminus, features widely acclaimed murals depicting Chicano, indigenous American and other themes emblazoned on the bridge’s concrete support pillars.

“Both the construction of the bridge and the ongoing operations have had a really negative impact on the community of Barrio Logan, and there ought to be some recognition of that impact,” said Filner, whose district includes the barrio, a low-income area.

In Barrio Logan, where the bridge remains a sore point and where bridge traffic contributes to traffic bottlenecks, a still-nascent movement has emerged seeking to redirect some of the toll funds to community needs, particularly the care of Chicano Park and its much-lauded murals. Some of the murals are deteriorating and badly in need of care, activists say. There have also been few additions in recent years, although the mural project is considered ongoing and open to expansion.

“I think we should get our fair share,” said Salvador Roberto Torres, a neighborhood resident, artist and assistant professor at San Diego State University who has long been active in promoting the park murals. “Traditionally, we have been the stepchild in this whole drama of events that has unfolded and impacted our community.”

The bridge opened in August, 1969. Its erection, along with the somewhat earlier construction of the Interstate 5 freeway, displaced thousands of residents of Barrio Logan, one of California’s oldest Chicano communities. Neighborhood outrage over the displacements and a perceived city neglect of the area sparked a series of events and confrontations that led directly to the founding of Chicano Park and the painting of the murals.

In Coronado, Mayor Mary Herron said Friday that she expects no objection from her constituents if bridge toll revenues are redirected to improvements in Barrio Logan. However, she noted that the city could face difficulty in complying with the state guidelines restricting the use of toll money.

“I think there would be a pretty stiff legal battle,” Mayor Herron said.