Since it opened in 2013, the eastern span of the Bay Bridge has been beset with numerous problems ranging from the serious to the absurd. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that addressing all those unforeseen developments has cost a pretty penny — so many pennies, in fact, that the Chronicle reports the bridge's rainy day fund has been almost completely drained. With a potential $270 million in work and repairs left to do, the remaining $67.7 million on hand just won't cut it.

And so, to cover the difference, officials with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission told the paper that bridge toll money will need to be spent. As ABC 7 notes, this doesn't mean that tolls will increase — rather, money designated for improvements to other toll bridges in the region will instead need to be spent on the eastern span.

“We’re not going to raise the tolls to pay for this,” MTC spokesperson Randy Rentschler told the Chronicle. “There’s no question about that.”

That the rainy day fund, created in 2005, was meant to prevent this exact scenario is not lost on bridge officials. And indeed, the $900 million dollar fund was created so that it could be used — it's just that no one expected it to be used so quickly.

It seems that going forward the Bay Area Toll Authority, which draws its funds from drivers on the Bay Area’s seven state-owned toll bridges, is on the hook for the remainder of the costs — which, if the past is any indication, are only likely to increase with time.

Related: Surprise! Bay Bridge Bike Path Delayed Yet Again