The Benicia–Martinez Bridge refers to three parallel bridges which cross the

Carquinez Strait The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait in Northern California. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay. The strait is ...

just west of

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the ...

in California; the spans link

Benicia Benicia ( , ) is a waterside city in Solano County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the capital of California for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at th ...

on the north side with Martinez on the south. The original deck

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

opened in 1962 to replace the last automotive ferry service in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

. The 1962 bridge has seven spans and of vertical clearance, now carrying four lanes of southbound traffic, as well as a path for pedestrians and bicyclists. It was named the George Miller Jr., Memorial Bridge in 1975 after California state legislator

George Miller Jr. George Miller Jr. (January 7, 1914 – January 1, 1969) was an American Democratic politician who served as a California State Assemblyman from 1947 to 1949 and a California State Senator from 1949 to 1969. He was a leader of the liberal wing of ...

A bridge was built alongside and opened on August 25, 2007 with five lanes of northbound traffic. In 2007, it was named the Congressman George Miller Benicia–Martinez Bridge after U.S. Congressman George Miller, Miller Jr.'s son. The cost of the 1962 span was US$25 million and US$1.3 billion for the 2007 span. (Adjusted for

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...

, equivalent to $ and $ respectively.) The bridge is part of Interstate 680, a major transportation link connecting other heavily traveled freeways. Between the two vehicle bridges is a

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

bridge, the first bridge at this location, built between April 1929 and October 1930 by Southern Pacific. It is used by Union Pacific and

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

(

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may ...

)

freight train Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers. A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) haul ...

s and 36 scheduled

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...

passenger trains each weekday. Passenger trains include the long-distance trains ''

California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville), via Omaha, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Reno. At , it is Amtrak's longest daily route, and second-longest overall ...

'' and ''

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's format ...

'' and commuter-oriented '' Capitol Corridor'' services.

Tolling

Tolls are only collected from northbound traffic at the toll plaza on the south side of the bridge. All-electronic tolling has been in effect since 2020, and drivers may either pay using the FasTrak electronic toll collection device, using the license plate tolling program, or via a one time payment online. Effective , the toll rate for passenger cars is $7. During peak traffic hours,

carpool Carpooling (also car-sharing, ride-sharing and lift-sharing) is the sharing of Automobile, car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car, and prevents the need for others to have to drive to a location themselves. By having more ...

vehicles carrying three or more people, clean air vehicles, or motorcycles may pay a discounted toll of $3.50 if they have FasTrak and use the designated carpool lane. Drivers must pay within 48 hours after crossing the bridge or they will be sent a toll violation invoice. No additional fees will be added to the toll violation if it is paid within 21 days. The toll plaza has nine lanes with toll booths and another nine lanes with open road tolling (ORT) in two zones. One ORT zone has two travel lanes and four shoulder lanes. The other ORT zone has one carpool travel lane with two shoulder lanes. This bridge is the first open road tolling facility in Northern California and the first bridge with open road tolling in California.

Historical toll rates

When the Benicia–Martinez Bridge opened in 1962, tolls were $0.25 per car. It was set to $0.35 in 1970, then increased to $0.40 in 1976. The basic toll (for automobiles) on the seven state-owned bridges, including the Benicia–Martinez Bridge, was raised to $1 by Regional Measure 1, approved by Bay Area voters in 1988. A $1 seismic retrofit surcharge was added in 1998 by the state legislature, originally for eight years, but since then extended to December 2037 (AB1171, October 2001). On March 2, 2004, voters approved Regional Measure 2, raising the toll by another dollar to a total of $3. An additional dollar was added to the toll starting January 1, 2007, to cover cost overruns concerning the replacement of the eastern span. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, a regional transportation agency, in its capacity as the Bay Area Toll Authority, administers RM1 and RM2 funds, a significant portion of which are allocated to public transit capital improvements and operating subsidies in the transportation corridors served by the bridges. Caltrans administers the "second dollar" seismic surcharge, and receives some of the MTC-administered funds to perform other maintenance work on the bridges. The Bay Area Toll Authority is made up of appointed officials put in place by various city and county governments, and is not subject to direct voter oversight. Due to further funding shortages for seismic retrofit projects, the Bay Area Toll Authority again raised tolls on all seven of the state-owned bridges in July 2010. The toll rate for autos on the Benicia–Martinez Bridge was thus increased to $5. In June 2018, Bay Area voters approved Regional Measure 3 to further raise the tolls on all seven of the state-owned bridges to fund $4.5 billion worth of transportation improvements in the area. Under the passed measure, the toll rate for autos on the Benicia–Martinez Bridge will be increased to $6 on January 1, 2019; to $7 on January 1, 2022; and then to $8 on January 1, 2025. In September 2019, the MTC approved a $4 million plan to eliminate toll takers and convert all seven of the state-owned bridges to all-electronic tolling, citing that 80 percent of drivers are now using Fastrak and the change would improve traffic flow. On March 20, 2020, accelerated by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, all-electronic tolling was placed in effect for all seven state-owned toll bridges. The MTC then installed new systems at all seven bridges to make them permanently cashless by the start of 2021. In April 2022, the Bay Area Toll Authority announced plans to remove all remaining unused toll booths and create an open-road tolling system which functions at highway speeds.

Railroad bridge

's Benicia-Martinez drawbridge is between the two vehicle bridges. The railroad bridge was built between 1928 and 1930 for

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

to replace its train ferry between Benicia and

Port Costa, California Port Costa is a small village and census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, located in East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Situated on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait, the population was 190 at the ...

. It is the second-longest railway bridge in North America, and the longest railway bridge west of the Mississippi River. Before the bridge was completed, ferries were used to allow the railway to cross Suisun Bay. The original ferry, built at

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the ...

in 1879 and named the '' Solano'', was the world's largest train ferry. In 1914 the larger ''Contra Costa'' was built. In 1926 the ferries carried 93,000 passenger cars and 142,000 freight cars across the Strait. Train ferry service ended with the opening of the railroad bridge on October 15, 1930.

Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes th ...

and

also run here on

. The drawbridge has the smallest clearances of the three bridges — lift span horizontal clearance is 291 feet and vertical clearances are 70 feet (closed) and 135 feet (open).

Northbound span

In late 2001, construction began on a newer bridge east of and parallel to the railroad bridge. It measures about 1.7 miles (2.7 km). The new bridge carries five lanes of northbound traffic. The older bridge underwent seismic retrofits and was converted from carrying three lanes in each direction to carrying four lanes of southbound traffic and a

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. B ...

/pedestrian lane, part of the San Francisco Bay Trail. The bridge construction included a new toll plaza with nine toll booths, two open road tolling lanes and one carpool lane at the south end of the bridge, although tolls continue to be charged only for northbound traffic. The old toll plaza at the north end of the bridge was removed. The new toll plaza was retrofitted for open road tolling to encourage FasTrak use. This required the removal of eight toll booths. The bridge is the largest lightweight concrete segmental bridge in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The estimated cost was $1.05 billion, the final cost was $1.3 billion. The original estimated cost was around $300 million, it is noted for its large delay in construction and large over cost (over $1 billion). The project's cost overshadowed the replacement of the Cypress Freeway portion of Interstate 880. The new bridge opened at 10:30pm on August 25, 2007.

Vista point

A vista point is located on the north side of the span, providing an excellent view of the 3 parallel bridges passing over the

with

Mount Diablo Mount Diablo is a mountain of the Diablo Range, in Contra Costa County of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. It is south of Clayton and northeast of Danville. It is an isolated upthrust peak of , visible from most ...

in the background. It has ample parking, picnic tables and a large compass to provide orientation. This is typically the point where cyclists and pedestrians wishing to cross the bridge park their cars.

References

External links

Bay Area FasTrak
– includes toll information on this and the other Bay Area toll facilities

* ttp://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/benicia/ Caltrans' New Benicia–Martinez Bridge project page
Earth Mechanics Inc. Benicia bridge project page
- geotechnical engineer for the new bridge

- Contra Costa Times article about technical difficulties * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Benicia-Martinez Bridge Bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area Carquinez Strait Bridges in Contra Costa County, California Bridges in Solano County, California Road bridges in California Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Interstate 80 Railroad bridges in California Benicia, California Martinez, California San Francisco Bay Steel bridges in the United States Toll bridges in California Tolled sections of Interstate Highways Truss bridges in the United States Bridges completed in 1930 Bridges completed in 1962 Bridges completed in 2007 San Francisco Bay Trail Union Pacific Railroad bridges