rolling up their she was and coming together to make this possible. congratulations to everyone. i also want to point out this is a harbinger of things to come. it is a wonderful step forward for san francisco, the culmination of tremendous hard work by many people in the agencies and in the communities. i want to particularly acknowledge adam for his leadership on this. i want to acknowledge the m.t.a., p.t.w. m.o.d. and c.t.a. apnd departmet of public health. a lot of acronyms but they stand for a lot of great people in the city working together to make this possible and are working with community members and folk to bring together ideas that will make better streets possible throughout the city. congratulations to everyone and i look forward to enjoying valencia street and many other corridors around the city for

many years to come. [applause] >> thanks to all much the organizations working with the city to make san francisco a better place. a few more acknowledgments. i did mention the deputy general manager is here for a significant part of the process and more significant part when we get to caesar chavez. we had a support from the better streets, league of conservation voters, state department of transportation, cal tran and many others and the merchants around here were wonderful to work with. i also want to acknowledge i mentioned our director of cultural affairs is here and we have a lot of art here. the artists on this project and i pt want to acknowledge michae with that project. modestly hiding behind his art.

i want to finally bring up one of our partners in this process and it was not just a partner in name but a partner sitting at the table, not just as we designed but as we did the construction to make sure safe passage for what is one of the fastest growing modes of transportation in san francisco. i would like to bring up the acting executive director of bicycle coalition. renee rivera. >> thank you, ed. it is a wonderful day to be here at the san francisco bicycle coalition we are so excited about these wonderful changes to valencia street. we have been around san francisco for quite a few years now and have been working on making valencia street a better place for biking and for everybody for many years. in fact, i was thinking back to 1999 when we first saw the bike lanes that have just been improved put in on valencia

street and what an incredible day that was for this street and bicycling in the city. one thing we saw after the lanes were put in is first of all a huge number of people coming out and biking on valencia street making it one of our most popular bike corridors in the city. but we have seen the neighborhood blossom and thrive and seen the businesses thrive. that is one thing that makes us so excited about today and the changes that have just been put in. because we know from our experience in the past how much these improvements and how much making better space for bikes, better space for pedestrians, making sure space for everyone of all ages and abilitys to use and enjoy the street. we know how much that makes the neighborhoods thrive and city thrive. and it is wonderful to see a business owner out here talking

about how businesses are and when we look at the businesses on this block how many were not here in 1999. what a commercial corridor this has become because of the changes the city has put in. we appreciate the vision from the city, from the mayor's office, m.t.a., all the agencies that have come together with the vision to make fran -- make san francisco a better place for everybody. improving the streets where we live and enjoy every day. i also wanted to specifically thank ed and other folks from d.p.w. for making this construction process as little suffering is possible. construction is always difficult but they were incredibly responsive through the process and we have been a partner through the whole construction

and that has made it as easy as it could possibly be. i want to also thank the contractor on this project for also being an incredible partner as we've gone through this construction phase. thank all for being here and we look forward to the better streets rolling out across the city and making many more of our streets and corridors to the city a wonderful place to bike, walk, take transit and enjoy. thank you. >> thank you, renee. a few final acknowledgments, the small project goes through different supervisor districts. i want to thank supervisors daly, tkufrt and campos. and the director and member of liveable cities. thanks for being a great advocate for these improvements.

i want to acknowledge the deputy director for public works who oversaw the construction and deputy director for operations who now will be responsible for maintaining this beautiful landscape. if he doesn't do so the mayor will remind him. finally, i want to acknowledge the guy who led the team that designed this whole project, an outstanding project. a lot of effort went in to getting community consensus, to working out the technical details and coming out with a beautiful project. landscape architect john dennis. the designers. then last but most the project manager for valencia street and the great streets program within d.p.w. or project manager, chris. phenomenal job on this project. with that, we want to thank you for coming today to celebrate

valencia street and the better streets plan. we would be happy to take questions if anybody has them for the mayor or anybody else. >> or we could do the ribbon cutting. >> on to the ribbon cutting. >> we will go five, four, three, two, one. five, four, three, two, one. [cheers and applause] >> walk your streets. there you go. >> get this ceremony under way. we have a great day here for the momentous occasion for the

sentences " and a bridge retrofit. in the public information officer for san francisco opened a bridge with caltrans. \ we're going to hear from a few key folks to talk about the history, what is actually happening today, and media that are interested, hopefully you have signed up on the waiver sheet and the signing sheet to take a boat tour that will get you a little closer to the work happening today. this morning, about 6:00, we started lifting a 1200-ton, 165- foot tall section that is the first part of our signatures than for the world's largest self-anchored suspension bridge. you can sit right here behind me. it is already vertical. it is being unbolted, and it will be split into place and sit down on a foundation where it will stand for at least 150 years in the next few hours. without further ado, i would like to introduce our secretary of california business, transportation, and housing agency, secretary dale bonner.

>> thank you very much, and thank you all for coming out here this afternoon. great to be here. great day for the bay area commuters. i want to just underscore that today is a day that has been very long in coming, so we are all gathered here today to recognize a little bit of history that is going on. i'm here on behalf of the governor and state to release say not only congratulations but a number of well-deserved bank used to everybody who has been instrumental in helping us get this far today, and that includes our local and regional and federal partners who have been great to work with over the last several years at least and probably longer in getting us here. members of the toll bridge program oversight committee, i see some of you here today.

i see we have some members of the california transportation commission, at least one of whom you will hear from this morning, but the others, good to see you here today. i want to thank the new director of the department of transportation who has been working on at least the financial and funding part of this project for a number of years, and we look forward to the leadership you will bring to it now as the director of caltrans. i was here last week trying to tell everybody what a good job your doing in district four with this project and some of the other complex projects you have going on in this region, but we appreciate you hear as well. i also want to thank a few of the hard hats we see here today. these 30 people who have worked very hard to turn a vision and a bunch of raw materials into the world-class asset that will stand the test of time, so we appreciate the hard work they have done. and most of what we, i think we

need to say thank you to the bay area commuters for their patience and support and for hanging in with this project and for pushing and cajoling those of us, the decision makers, and those of us who were responsible for delivering this project on time. we appreciate your patience and support. we're celebrating the placement of the first tower section in the self-anchor suspension span, which will soon be a very breathtaking landmark here in the san francisco bay area. this is yet another impressive engineering and construction milestone in what has been an ongoing seismic retrofit project here for a very long time. it is one of the country's most vital bridges that was important not only to the bay area and the state of california but in fact, the united states. we all know we have achieved a great deal so far and that is why we are gathered here today, but we also know that there is much more to do, so we are going to look forward to the continuing support and dedication for many years to

come. i would like to ask my friend, another great leader in this area, the mayor of oakland, to come forward and say a few words this morning. [applause] >> thank you. i have a few brief remarks i would like to make, but let me just began on a personal note. someone mentioned history a few minutes ago. someone had said longevity has its place. i'm probably one of the few people at this gathering that can recall the origin of this bridge or at least by my mother and father's accounts. when the bay bridge first opened up, they allow people to walk on the bridge for a nickel or a dime, and my folks told me that they carried me as a tiny kid on to that bridge, so i have lived long enough to see an extraordinary evolution.

it is fitting that the entrance to this world-class region, which serves as a gateway to the pacific rim, and the world of trade, commerce, and economic exchange, is a world-class landmark bridge, a remarkable engineering feat. this bridge not only graces the point of entry to the port of oakland, one of the most powerful economic engines in the greater bay area region, but it also connects the people and cities of the bay area. our economies and opportunities are interdependent. safe crossing facilitates healthy exchange and movement of goods, services, people, and tourists. the safety i allude to cannot be underestimated. as beautiful as this remarkable tower will be, and indeed will be beautiful, the critical factor of this seismic retrofit

is our emergency preparedness. to that end, this project is essential for the bay area's economic health, particularly following a major disaster. in this case, potentially an earthquake. finally, i wish to both thank and congratulate each and every person that participated in the planning, the hard work that brings us to this moment and beyond. with those remarks, i would now like to introduce my distinguished colleague and very good friend, the mayor of san francisco, mayor gavin newsom. [applause] mayor newsom: thank you for being out here and taking the time out of your day. let me just pay special thanks to all the hard working men and women that have worked so hard on this project for all these many years.

the people in the building and construction strayed, all the engineers, all the seismic experts, all those consultants that helped bring us to where we are today. i have got to admit -- three years, $77 million, and a new bridge and a transbay terminal is pretty impressive. i want to remind you it only took three years to be imagine the day by building this bridge. here we are with a $1.43 billion self-anchored suspension with a component of a 6.2/$6.3 billion project just for a portion of this bridge that has taken a little bit more than three years. i have to be honest -- i, at a

point when i was a city supervisor, thought this would never happen. this thing that caught up in politics, the likes of which i could never have imagined. we had a new mayor on that side, new mayor on the side, one has strong opinions about where this thing would take off, and another had a design issue. the two governors, one that had left, and finally, greg davis said enough, stop, we have to get this thing done, and basically broke the impact and got us moving. i know folks do not like to hear that, but let's be honest -- the earthquake was in 1989, and here we are 20 years later, and we are a number of years away from this being completed. my long winded point is not to rein on the party but to acknowledge this because it needs to be acknowledged. that is an important point of the history, that we have finally made up for some of those delays.

we are finally moving expeditiously. we are reaching our goals. we're working collaborative live together on the east side and west side of the day. we're working with the governor's office. the bureaucracy is moving. unions are working. people are out here, and real things are taking shape. the 280,000 vehicles that go across this every single day, and they have been waiting patiently to get to this point. by the way, i have been waiting patiently, too, because i was just in shanghai, it seems like a few weeks back, and literally, the day that we arrived was the day that this piece of the bridge was shipped off. if it could have gotten on the plane, we would have been here a few weeks ago, but it took a little bit of time. it was wonderful to actually be here with some of the folks that were doing the construction out

in shanghai, a sister city of san francisco, and to see it be here. it is a wonderful sight indeed. this is a world class structure. there is nothing like it in the united states of america. one could argue there's no tower like this anywhere in the world. this is something for generations that we're going to be very proud of. we have the icon, which is the golden gate bridge. i think the bay bridge is beautiful. it always is the stepchild of the golden gate, but i think that could change. nothing will replace the putin and majesty of the golden gate, the folks will be talking about this bridge all around the world. it is absolutely spectacular. has been a work of love and passion. so many people that made this happen and kept this moving, and i want to put my hat off to all of you, and in the spirit of and had, make a point that needs to be made about this hat, and that

is we are very proud that we delivered another icon. this not from the far east in asia, but from back east in new york city with a brilliant move by the golden state warriors that was lost not by all of us out here but by some folks in the media le media lebron game stuff where we were able to get one of the top free agents in the country to come out to play for the warriors, and he happens to be here, david lee. thank you for being here. you are going to be seeing a lot of this guy. he is a superstar. he brought with him these hats. what am i talking about? the hat has a new icon, a new logo. it has on the hat, the new suspended and that we are

putting in today, which is now the new logo of the golden gate warriors, and how appropriate that we celebrate our regional team and celebrate today david coming on board and the new logo being released by the warriors with these new golden state warrior hats. that is why i grabbed it. that is why i'm thankful david is here. i want to thank our leaders. i asked that scott hagerty come on up, supervisor hagerty, to say a few words. he has been an extraordinary leader on this for many years. he deserves the opportunity to speak even longer than this long winded politicians. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you. i appreciate you being here today. i was almost fearful you were going to put on that have and make some sort of political statement, but we are extremely excited about david lee coming over to the warriors. i will remove two pages of my speech because of yours -- that is okay. this is the way we do it. we kind of improvised. i'm chairman of mtc and also serve as alameda county supervisor, and i just want to tell you that the installation of this first leg is not just a construction milestone. i have in the audience today my wife who is sitting back there, who just went, "oh, god, why'd you do that?" i also have my son here, and i have been talking to my kids, and i've said what is happening here is a part of history. has been said many times that this is a part of history, but this is something we're

building for future generations. many generations in the future will be using this bridge, and quite frankly, as we continue to struggle with deficits, our children are the ones that are going to have to pay the debt off, and that is something i think about almost daily as an elected official in alameda county. i think that if we're going to put our children this far in debt, we might as well give them something they can use, so i think with this bridge, we are certainly doing that. [laughter] unless you want to pay it off. i do not know how your budget is going. but there is a byproduct of this village -- of this bridge. when the great depression came, they built the bridge, the caldecott tunnel, and as we struggle through this recession, we are actually doing the same thing. we're building a new board for the caldecott tunnel, and we are building a new bridge. not only are we putting a bridge of. not only are we in a situation

in which we are creating history for our children, but more importantly, we are putting people in the bay area back to work, and we have been working, so i think that is probably the best thing we're doing for the people we represent. the team of designers for this is extensive, and we have mofford and knuckle, the construction contractors from american bridge, the fabricators from dpmc, and the project managers and financiers from the toll bridge program oversight committee. this is a partnership between the california transportation commission and the bay area poll authority, and i know the mayor pointed out earlier that steve is here from the full authority but more importantly runs the commission. also, our wonderful caltrans director that i got to meet a few weeks ago, to find out we

kind of hailed from the safe area -- the same area. earlier, some of you gave a shout out to bijon, who has to be one of the busiest people right now. everything going on in district four clearly points out that he is really earning his money. as the fellow commissioner, i want to thank you very much for everything that you do. together, we are building a bridge that will not only establish a new standard of engineering excellence and seismic safety but also provide a beautiful landmark. as was pointed out, the golden state warriors have adopted this landmark, and we are particularly proud about that. i did call steve the day they unveiled that, as if there's any way we could get any money out of this, and he said no. he said he thinks that the taxpayers have already paid enough. so we did have that conversation. the team behind this bridge is composed of stars all around the

world. the tower sections are not only designed to rigorous standards but is also built to rigorous standards and as a result is world-class. we are happy to celebrate today's accomplishment of the team so far, but we are mindful there is still so much to do. we are in a race against time before the next big earthquake hits the bay area, and quite frankly, that is what we're working for. to win the race against time, it is essential that we all keep working together, we pick up the pace so we can get this new bridge open to traffic. please listen to this -- 2013. did you hear that? andy? ok. with that, i would like to introduce our next speaker, someone that really needs no introduction, someone helps men and women on a daily basis keep their jobs and work and do everything they need to do, and that is our ctc commissioner. [applause]

>> thank you. with every objective met, we get closer to achieving our goal of seismic safety on the busiest bridge in our state, and actually, one of the most travelled corridors in america. this bridge is not only the back band of transportation for the bay area, it is an extremely important route for the entire state of california, and we see that whenever we take the bridge out of service. it takes months of planning, and we have to literally inform stakeholders throughout the state. what makes this bridge even more special, if not crucial, is the fact that it is being designed and built, as mentioned earlier, as an icon for generations to come. it will do its job of getting people across the bay with innovative engineering, elegant construction, and architectural pinache. i like that word. until now, we have not had a chance to witness what this

bridge will to look like, but as we placed the segments that have just arrived, is to become clear that california will have another symbol of its constant effort to dream big and to deliver new cutting edge ideas and benefits to society. although we have a ways to go, today, we honor the team work and effort that has gone into delivering one of the most technically challenging bridges ever attempted. thanks to the bay bridge team, and i mean that in the broadest terms imaginable. we see that if agencies, contractors, fabricators, inspectors, and the good union class men and women work together as a team, there is no challenge that cannot be met. i want to thank everybody for coming today. this is truly an honor for me to the year, both as a craftsman and a member of the commission. thank you very much. [applause] >> i would like to introduce not only a good friend, but as you

will see as this thing moves forward, one heck of a partner. mike flowers from american bridge is going to give us a little chat on the technical part of what we're doing today. [applause] >> thanks. distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, after four painstaking years of planning and watching literally thousands of fabricated pieces come skillfully together, it is massive tower elements of this one-of-a-kind bridge, it is with great satisfaction that we pause in celebration of the installation of first our segment of self-anchored suspension bridge, but no matter how complete the plant, it has to be executed by people. skilled craftsmen, inspectors,

and engineers that bring to light to plans and divisions of the designers, dedicated workers to whom today's spot light belongs. on this occasion, i would like to thank the department -- cindy and the department for all of its support and partnership. the toll bridge oversight committee for its leadership. the design joint venture for its vision. the careful -- dpmc who carefully crafted these pieces together, a special thanks for the crescent ship, the professional skill, innovation in meeting the challenge of constructing this unprecedented structure. i want to echo scott hagerty's comments that this milestone, while meanul