Politics

Public Invited To Give Feedback On Coronado Bridge Lighting Project

By Alison St John / Reporter

Published July 6, 2010 at 3:00 AM PDT

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

Peter Fink team, one of three finalists for the project, proposed illuminating the pillars with lights that celebrate the bridge as a gateway. They envision the colors will be programmed with an infinite number of settings that could be changed in response to holidays or the seasons.

The San Diego Port District wants feedback on its plan to light up the Coronado Bridge at night.

It’s the Port District’s responsibility to balance commercial and recreational uses around San Diego Bay. Turning the Coronado Bridge into an art project should not create conflict from competing interests.

But residents of Barrio Logan, right under the bridge, could be affected by changing light shows overhead at night.

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Port Commissioner Lee Burdick says public reaction has been positive at hearings in Coronado and downtown. The next hearing is in Barrio Logan.

"This project is entirely consistent with creating the kind of excitement that draws people down to San Diego Bay." Burdick said, " Whatever the impacts would be, though, we want to make sure that Barrio Logan is actively involved in the conversation."

Three lighting proposals are being consideration. One would honor the region’s native American heritage, one would feature wind turbines to generate the electricity and a third would program changing light shows.

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.