Anthony Argyriou

I believe that the requirement for 4 hours notice is a reasonable trade-off between the expense of maintaining 24-hour staffing of the bridges and the needs of maritime navigation, as boaters and shippers can consult tide-tables or other references to determine the best times for passage days in advance of actual transits. However, I urge the Coast Guard to expand the morning hours during which passage will be denied to either 0700 to 0900 or 0730 to 0930. Commute traffic leaving Alameda begins to pick up well before 0800, and raising a bridge during commute times creates significant backups into Oakland and Alameda. Raising the Park Street Bridge particularly congests Park Street, a major artery, and various side streets in Alameda, creating difficulties for emergency response in the vicinity of the bridge, and causing significant increase in pollution in the vicinty of the bridge as motorists idle while waiting for the bridge to re-open.