Audit: Bay Bridge retrofit project $2 billion over budget.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

SAN JOSE, Calif. _ The cost to strengthen the Bay Bridge to make it earthquake-safe has soared to nearly double the original estimate, and the project won't be completed for another five years, according to a state auditor's report released Thursday.

The California Department of Transportation had estimated the project would cost $2.6 billion and be completed in the next two years. But Caltrans now places the price at $4.6 billion with a 2007 completion date.

Replacing the eastern span of the Bay Bridge, where a section collapsed during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, will cost taxpayers an extra $1.3 billion, making it the largest contributor toward ...