First Cars Cross New San Francisco Bay Bridge

After years of delays and cost overruns

There was little fanfare, but the gleaming white and newly built $6.4-billion eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened to the public as vehicles began crossing it after more than a decade of construction delays.

Part old and part new, part permanent and part temporary, the hybridized bridge opened late Monday night in time for Tuesday's morning commute. The opening followed a five-day closure for the entire bridge.

Drivers began lining up their cars hours earlier in an attempt to be among the first on the new span, and CHP officers led a line of vehicles across at about 10:15 p.m. several hours before the estimated opening time and the expected commuter crunch on Tuesday morning.