to the site) by the Engineering and Design Advisory Panel (EDAP) of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). A number of innovative proposals were examined until all but four proposals that were submitted by members of EDAP were selected as semi-finalists, and a winner was selected from this group. This posed a serious conflict of interest, as members of the EDAP who were selecting the bridge design reviewed proposals by their own firms and rejected all proposals that did not have a representative on the EDAP. The design chosen was more expensive than the alternatives, because the primary structure cannot be self-supporting until it is structurally complete. This requires the building of two bridges, the first a falsework to support the final span, which would be removed upon completion of the final span. It has also been criticized as both a less structurally robust design and with less predictable construction costs than other modern spans. Alignment In 1997, there was much political bickering over whether the bridge should be built to the north or to the south of the existing bridge, with the "Mayors Brown" (San Francisco's Willie Brown and Oakland's Jerry Brown) on opposite sides of the issue. Yerba Buena Island is within the city limits of San Francisco and the proposed (and current) northern alignment would cast a shadow over certain prime development sites on the island's eastern shore. Even the U.S. Navy (at the time the controlling authority of the island) was involved at the behest of San Francisco in restricting Caltrans soil engineers' access to the proposed site . That may have caused up to a two-year delay and many hundred millions of dollars in additional costs. Various options were determined to be worthy of consideration and were carefully examined jointly by state and federal authorities, with input from the United States Coast Guard. Grade alternatives included: Extending the sea level approach grade westward, with a steep approach to the span. Using a relatively constant grade, including on a portion of the span. Using a relatively constant grade to near the span, with the span level. The last alternative was chosen because it was considered to have a superior visual effect and improved driving experience. The grade of the new approach (estimated possible ranges of 1.710%-1.779%; vertically-curved suspension deck with crest, slightly different from what was chosen) to the channel span is somewhat less than that of