the roadway to let wind through. It opened on October 14, 1950, and is 5,979 feet (1822 m) long—40 feet (12 m) longer than the first bridge. The new bridge cost $18 million to construct. Local residents nicknamed the new bridge Sturdy Gertie, as the oscillations that plagued the previous design had been eliminated. This bridge along with its new parallel eastbound bridge is currently the fifth-longest suspension bridges in the United States. When built, the westbound bridge was the third longest suspension bridge span in the world. Like other modern suspension bridges, the westbound bridge was built with steel plates that feature sharp entry edges rather than the flat plate sides used in the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge (see the suspension bridge article for an example). The bridge was designed to handle 60,000 vehicles a day. It carried both westbound and eastbound traffic until the eastbound bridge opened on July 15, 2007. Eastbound bridge (2007) In 1998, voters in several Washington counties approved an advisory measure to create a second Narrows span. Construction of the new span, which carries eastbound traffic parallel to the current bridge, began on October 4, 2002, and was completed in July 2007. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) signed a design-and-construction agreement with Bechtel and Kiewit Pacific Co., who then engaged in a joint venture to construct eastbound. It was estimated by WSDOT that the project would cost $849 million to complete, but ultimately finished under budget at $786 million due to not using the funds allocated to emergency scenarios. The eastbound bridge has an overall length of 1,646 m, and a main span of 853 m, making it the fifth largest suspension bridge in the United States. In comparison, the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco has a total length of 2,372 m or 1.7 miles. The bridge was dedicated in honor of State Representative Ruth Fisher and State Senator Robert "Bob" Oke, a South Kitsap resident, one of the main proponents of building the second span across Puget Sound between the Kitsap Peninsula and Tacoma. WSDOT collects a toll before entering the eastbound span. Tolls currently are $4.50 for "Good to Go" account holders with in-vehicle transponders, $5.50 for cash/credit card customers, and $6.50 for those who choose Pay-By-Mail. The existing span had been free of tolls since 1965. The new bridge marks the first installation of the new Good To