WHEN A structural failure closed the Bay Bridge last week and paralyzed commuter traffic, two questions immediately jumped to mind:

(1) Who's to blame for this?

(2) Is there any way we can sue them?

Finger pointing is a proud American tradition, and litigation is one of the country's most popular pastimes, so it's not just important, it's our civic duty to determine where to direct our ire.

How about the manufacturers of the two tie rods and crossbeam that snapped less than two months after installation?

Or maybe C.C. Myers, the company that installed them during an emergency repair on Sept. 8.

And let's not forget the Caltrans crews that conducted periodic inspections on the jury-rigged support.

So many possibilities, so much blame to dispense. Where to begin?

Here's an idea: How about putting it where it belongs — on the politicians, bureaucrats and government agencies that have conspired to prevent us from already having a new Bay Bridge in place?

In case you're late to the party, the construction of a new bridge has been on the table since 1996, a product of the bone-chilling memory of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that dislodged a 250-ton section of the bridge's upper deck, killed one motorist and gave everyone else a case of the could-have-beens.

Seismic upgrades were a temporary solution, but a permanent fix was needed.

The first discussion

We would laugh, but it hurts too much.

Senate Bill 60, introduced by state Sen. Quentin Kopp, of San Francisco, which laid out the funding for a "skyway" design, had barely been signed into law in 1997 when Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown began picking apart the plan.

The Oakland mayor wanted a more attractive, "world class" design, perhaps to divert drivers' eyes from the Oakland skyline.

The San Francisco mayor wanted the bridge relocated farther south, so as not to affect the city's redevelopment of Yerba Buena and Treasure Islands. When redevelopment dollars square off with public safety, well, money talks.

Brown & Brown succeeded mainly in blowing smoke, commanding attention and dragging out the process. In the end, a suspension span became part of the design but the bridge location was unchanged.

Then the Navy, which still owned Yerba Buena Island, threw up another hurdle over its concern that construction work on the new bridge might harm historic buildings.

Then came a nine-month stare-down with Caltrans.

Alameda County supervisor and bridge task Chairwoman Mary King summarized the situation: "It's shameful to tell Bay Area residents what stands between them and a new, safe bridge is a squabble between two public agencies."

Yeah, who could have guessed?

By the time construction started in January 2002, cost estimates had doubled to $2.6 billion, and worries over funding began to emerge.

How much to lay on Sacramento and how much on commuters? Meanwhile, a public debate over whether to use domestic or foreign steel delayed purchases long enough for the price of the steel to increase. The cost estimate jumped to $2.9 billion.

Late deliveries of materials and faulty estimates produced more cost overruns, which were spelled out in a blistering report in 2004 by California's nonpartisan auditor that accused Caltrans of mismanagement. Your tax dollars at work.

When the revised cost estimate soared to $5.1 billion, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger jumped in. Perhaps the suspension span should be eliminated. Maybe the causeway plan was best. More studies produced more delays as the inflation meter kept running. In the end, little was changed except the estimated cost, which now stands at $6.3 billion.

But don't blink. This number has a way of growing.

It's difficult to fathom that more than 20 years have passed since the ground shook the Bay Area's busiest bridge so hard that it came apart. It's sobering to realize that three governors — Wilson, Gray Davis and Schwarzenegger — will have come and gone without fixing the problem.

The new Bay Bridge is not expected to be completed until at least 2013.

It's really too bad we can't sue somebody.

Reach Tom Barnidge at tbarnidge@bayareanewsgroup.com.