The
likelihood that a median barrier will someday separate
traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge increased dramatically
yesterday when a bridge district committee agreed to help
pay for crash tests on a concrete and steel prototype.
It is the first time in more than a decade that a proposal
for a movable barrier has received such serious attention.
The tests on the $5.7 million divider, designed by Barrier
Systems Inc. of Carson City, Nev., could be complete in
four to six months. "I think maybe we're going to
break through and come out with a better answer,"
said Carney Campion, the general manager of the Golden
Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. "I'm
very enthused." Campion, who was confident that federal
funding could be found to finance the project, said he
hoped the barrier would be installed in about 18 months.
In
yesterday's action, the building and operating committee
agreed to spend $42,500 toward the crash tests, about
half the total cost. The panel also authorized spending
$50,000 on safety studies that would look at all the ways
that a barrier might affect traffic flow. The proposal
is to be considered by the district's budget committee
tomorrow before proceeding to the full board of directors
on Friday. The full board will also take up proposals
for pursuing legislative action that the committee approved
yesterday, including installing radar to more rigorously
enforce the 45mph speed limit and imposing higher fines
for speeding on the bridge.
The
flurry of activity comes two weeks after 38 year-old Tamar
Kraut of San Francisco, a psychologist and HMO executive,
was killed in a head-on collision near the bridge's north
tower. She was the third person since 1990 to die in a
wreck on the bridge. The barrier is made up of meter long
units that hinge together to form a continuous, snakelike
strand, which can be moved with a specially designed truck.
The latest design would reduce the width of the roadway
by a single foot.
