TRAFFIC FLOWS OVER GUARDED BRIDGES.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

Traffic flowed over the Golden Gate and other California bridges Friday, but no problems were reported as Gov. Gray Davis defended his decision to publicly warn of a possible terrorist attack.

National Guardsmen with M-16s and Humvees patrolled the bridges, and the CHP had cruisers traveling back and forth along Los Angeles' Vincent Thomas Bridge, among those named by the governor in a warning downplayed by federal authorities.

Speaking at an economic summit at Disney Studios in Burbank, Davis said he has no regrets over his decision to warn citizens. He said he, too, planned to travel over bridges he insisted were safe.

``This time the threat came in writing from three separate federal sources. They were time-specific and location-specific,'' Davis said.

``I am confident that those bridges are safe, and I plan to go over those bridges myself,'' he said.

Davis shocked many commuters - and some law enforcement officials - with his announcement Thursday that the government had ``credible evidence'' that terrorists may be plotting to attack California bridges.

The governor named the Golden Gate Bridge, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles and San Diego's Coronado Bridge.

The FBI later confirmed the threat but said it was uncorroborated. Attorney General John Ashcroft said the warning had only ``relative credibility.''

President George W. Bush said he supported Davis' decision.

``I think any governor should be able to conduct their business the way they see fit,'' Bush said. He said the homeland defense program should enable governors to ``harden targets, respond to uncorroborated evidence and to protect their people.''

But as Bill Simon announced Friday he would seek the Republican nomination to run against Davis next year, the investment banker criticized the governor's judgment.

``When you come out and make blanket statements that bridges might be attacked, that sends a certain level of panic and fear in people,'' Simon said. ``If he had a basis upon which to make a statement, I would like to know what that basis is.''

Still some wary commuters were hesitant to take their regular drive over the region's suspension bridges.

``There's no way I'd drive over the Bay Bridge,'' said film editor Stephanie Challberg, one of many who took the subway instead. ``On my way home last night, I thought I was going to pass out.''

The FBI alert was sent to law enforcement agencies in eight Western states, warning that ``unspecified groups are targeting suspension bridges on the West Coast.''

For the first time since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the nation's fears shifted to the West.

``I'm angry that I'm feeling anxious and afraid,'' said Constance Kilgore, who commutes by bus across the Golden Gate Bridge from Sonoma into San Francisco. ``Every time I cross the bridge I think about the terrorists and the way they are going to do it.''

Bechtel Inc., the engineering company that built the Bay Bridge linking San Francisco with Oakland, gave 1,200 San Francisco employees the option of working from home or taking the next few business days off.

In Oregon and Washington, the alert triggered additional security precautions at some of the most heavily traveled bridges, including Washington's Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber said the Coast Guard would check under his state's bridges more often, and urged people not to be afraid.

``I've never, ever, ever felt unsafe in any part of San Francisco,'' DiDi Simon said as she stepped out of a downtown subway station. ``It's kind of weird to have so much attention shifted to the West Coast.''

California Highway Patrol officers and the Coast Guard also patrolled the four bridges Davis named, which collectively carry nearly 500,000 vehicles a day. They have been conducting the patrols since Sept. 11.

In Los Angeles, the police on high alert since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, had officers paying closer attention to the Vincent Thomas Bridge, LAPD spokesman Officer Jason Lee said.

``We are working in cooperation with the California Highway Patrol and National Guard, who are there as we speak,'' Lee said.

Pedestrians and cyclists are still allowed on the Golden Gate Bridge, but several trails approaching the bridge have been closed. On the vehicles-only Bay Bridge, officials were inspecting identification badges and have welded shut some gates and doorways.

``I just let it go in one ear and out the other,'' said Dawn Kropp, who drives across the Coronado Bridge every day to San Diego. ``You have to live your life.''

Scott Trautz, a high school teacher, was preparing to take 45 students across the Vincent Thomas bridge so they could catch a boat to Santa Catalina Island. ``If we were concerned, we wouldn't be here,'' he said.

Still, Trautz planned to call his principal when they arrived to allay any parents' fears.

Davis said he felt he had an obligation to warn the public.

``If I failed to share that information and God forbid something went wrong, I'd be kicking myself,'' the governor said.