When the San Diego-Coronado Bridge opened in 1969, it became an instant landmark that forever changed the small city nearly surrounded by the Pacific. Coronado officials had looked at proposals to make the city more accessible since the 1920s, but it wasn’t until former Hotel del Coronado owner John Alessio and then-owner M. Larry Lawrence began lobbying Gov. Edmund G. “Pat” Brown that a bridge plan gained traction. It was approved by state officials in 1965, with funding to come from state toll revenue bonds. Forty years ago tomorrow, the bridge opened, ascending at a 4.67 percent grade from Coronado before curving 90 degrees toward San Diego. The curve makes the span long enough so it can rise to a height of 200 feet, allowing even the Navy’s tallest ships to sail under. The bridge’s opening turned a sleepy town filled mostly with Navy employees in time-worn homes into a modern, traffic-filled city that has attracted millions of tourists and scores of developers and wealthy new homeowners. “It completely changed things,” former Mayor Tom Smisek said. “We had car dealerships, a department store. We had hardware stores and a movie theater. You really didn’t leave very often. You didn’t have to.” Coronado had been self-contained, but the new bridge coincided with the arrival of large shopping centers across the bay that lured residents. Some Coronado businesses closed, replaced by tourist-oriented shops and restaurants. Before the bridge was built, people crossed the bay by ferryboat or drove up the Silver Strand by way of south San Diego and Imperial Beach. Now vacationers could reach Coronado’s wide, sandy beaches with an easy drive over the bridge. The city’s population hasn’t grown much since the bridge opened 19,550 in 1965, compared with 22,845 today but it’s a denser community. The city has more businesses, and many of its smaller homes have been demolished to make way for two or more units on the same lot. Several developments, including the Coronado Cays and the 10 Coronado Shores condominium towers, were spurred by construction of the bridge. Phil Needham worked aboard the ferryboats that once transported passengers and cars across the bay. While boats still carry people, the ferries loaded with Fords, Edsels and Chevys stopped 40 years ago today. The state didn’t want any competition because bridge tolls were paying off the construction bonds. The site of the former ferry landing near First Street and Orange Avenue has a new mix of commercial and residential projects. On the other side of town, Orange Avenue is filled with small, mom-and-pop stores; the city long ago restricted the number of large retail outlets and fast-food chains. In between are immaculately landscaped streets of historic, million-dollar homes. “It was a village,” Needham said. “Today, it’s a city.” Over the years, Coronado property values have increased. In June, single-family homes had a median sales price of nearly $865,000. More visitors and construction boosted hotel-and property-tax revenues, which have given the city enviable budget reserves, services and amenities. Coronado resident Rita Wadleigh admires the 2.1-mile bridge and its views. But she said state Highway 75 which crosses the bridge and heads across town before meandering down the Silver Strand has destroyed once-quiet Third and Fourth streets and hindered crosstown travel. Some Coronado residents supported a bridge, but many opposed it and refused to participate in its planning. The highway was built in the middle of residential neighborhoods. “It cut the city in half,” said Wadleigh, who works at Kippy’s clothing store on Orange Avenue. “It was like having two Coronados.” Designed to accommodate 30,000 daily trips, the bridge now carries 85,000 cars each weekday. Read the entire Union Tribune article here.
