Fog advisories were issued this morning for the San Mateo, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge. The alert is effective until 9 a.m., but could extend until 10 am as the thick fog lingers. more ›

Ta-da! The behind schedule/ahead of schedule new Eastern span of the Bay Bridge gets its last piece of roadway installed today, marking a major milestone for the fancy new Chinese-built connection between Oakland and Yerba Buena Island. Controversial Bay Area mayors Ed Lee and Jean Quan will be in attendance to celebrate the final piece of the roadway puzzle at 10 a.m. this morning. Bridge commuters, don't expect to be changing your traffic patterns just yet — the bridge doesn't open to traffic until the fall of 2013. more ›

More than a third of the bridges in San Francisco County have been deemed "structurally deficient", says a new report from Transportation for America. With such a high percentage of crumbling bridges and elevated roadways, that makes San Francisco County the worst in the state for driving over any street that is not paved directly on the ground. Drivers might be pleased to learn that the Bay Area's flagship spans (the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge, obviously) were determined to be in fine shape, but it's the smaller connectors, ramps and overpasses that we should be worried about. more ›

The currently-under-construction eastern span of the Bay Bridge gets a little more photogenic tonight: Caltrans will be lighting up the orange catwalks they've installed to prepare for the installation of the bridge's main suspension cable sometime in 2012. Although the lights are going up so construction crews can work at night, they ought to give nighttime drivers and people with enviable apartment views a good idea of what the completed bridge will look like at night. more ›

Additional high wind advisories are in effect for two Bay Area bridges this morning. "Motorists on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge are advised that gusts reaching 50 mph are forecast for both roadways today." This, of course, is in addition to the high wind advisory for the entire San Francisco Bay Area. more ›

View of the Bay Bridge expansion in progress. more ›

State-owned bridges like the Bay and San Mateo Bridges may face a toll hike of a dollar (from $4 to $5) in the next year in order to cover costs for retrofitting bridges like the Antioch and Dumbarton bridges, which are apparently also due for collapse in the next big earthquake (along with the Bay Bridge's current eastern span). Why bridges built in the 70s and 80s would need retrofitting is beyond us, but obviously a testament to the fact that government has always cut corners wherever possible. The Golden Gate Bridge, which is privately owned, has had a $5 toll for several years now. more ›

Drivers without FasTrak, be sure to get one within the next year to avoid further cash bridge toll headaches. In an effort to decrease toll-collection costs, ease congestion, and encourage more drivers to pay tolls electronically, the Bay Area Toll Authority will likely be eliminating at least one cash lane on seven Bay Area bridges and adding an additional FasTrak-only lane on the Bay Bridge, the San Mateo Bridge, and the Carquinez Bridge, which would be open during commute hours. The new FasTrak-only lane on the Bay Bridge would be ready by next summer. The changes would cut the number of toll collectors by about 10 percent, and savings are calculated to amount to "several million dollars." more ›