The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District wants more time to come up with the funding for a long-discussed suicide prevention barrier.
The district's board of directors unanimously voted Friday to let its staff request a 90-day extension from the two firms that offered bids on the steel net that would be installed along the bridge.
Oakland-based Shimmick/Danny’s Joint Venture bid $142 million and American Bridge Company of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, bid $174 million back in July. Both bids were significantly larger than the $76 million the bridge district had set aside for the project in 2014.
Those bids expire on Oct. 10, but the bridge district is asking the companies to extend the deadline until Jan. 9, 2017.
"Right now, we need more time," bridge district spokeswoman Priya Clemens said. "We need time to look at the bids, and we need time to potentially find more funding to award one of these bids."