The walkways were to connect the station, which straddles the busy interstate, with a new parking garage on the Pleasanton side and a new hotel, restaurant and housing on the Dublin side.

BART spokesman Linton Johnson said the welds on the million-dollar walkways "didn't meet BART or Caltrans standards" and "everyone is trying to figure out how it happened."

Johnson said an independent analyst was hired to look into redoing the welds, but that BART concluded it would be cheaper and safer to scrap the defective bridges and build new ones.

"Everyone is very concerned about it," said Scott Fairgrieve of Shimmick Construction Co., which is building the station and subcontracted out the bridge fabrication. "Nobody wants defective steel."

Fairgrieve said the subcontractor wasn't conceding the welds were bad.

Whatever the case, the West Dublin Station opening, which was scheduled next summer, will be pushed back six months to a year.

And that's why two massive walkways are sitting beside the freeway in Dublin.

Parking relief: Outrage among residents and business owners has prompted two Oakland City Council members to call for rolling back the city's new parking rules.

Pat Kernighan and Ignacio De La Fuente said if they can find a way to make up the money, they will ask their fellow council members to cut meter enforcement back to 6 p.m., eliminating the extra two hours of enforcement the council approved to help balance the city's strapped budget.

Councilwoman Jean Quan said she was in favor of letting neighborhoods decide how late the meters should go. But she noted that cutting it back to 6 p.m. will mean $1.3 million less for the city.

The council, however, is on summer break and won't meet again until mid-September.

The added meter hours, coupled with higher parking rates and a $10 increase that raised parking fines to $55, set off a firestorm across the city. Neighborhood merchants said the new rules were driving shoppers away. One group even targeted the council with a rescind-or-recall petition.

Mayor Muni: Half the trick of gearing up for a mayoral run in San Francisco is hitching oneself to a popular issue. For Gavin Newsom, it was the Care Not Cash program. For City Attorney Dennis Herrera, it appears to be defending same-sex marriage in the courts.

And for Supervisor Bevan Dufty, it's Muni.

Dufty has been front and center for the cameras during the latest round of Muni collisions - and he's been asking about whether the system is putting on-time performance over safety.

"We have a lot of room for improvement and frankly it is what I hear a lot about," said Dufty.

By the way, Dufty said he is "definitely running for mayor."

Dead end: Not even death can stop the DMV.

Take the case of the 57-year-old East Bay woman arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after a February fender-bender.

A criminal hearing date was set in Alameda County Superior Court. The Department of Motor Vehicles scheduled a hearing to revoke her license as well.

When the woman unexpectedly died in June, her attorney, Seth Chazin, got a copy of the death certificate and forwarded it to the court with a request that they dismiss the DUI complaint. They did.

Then he contacted officials at Oakland DMV's driver safety office, asking that they dismiss the license revocation hearing as well.

After consulting with her boss, the hearing officer said sorry - but the hearing must proceed to allow a DMV finding in the case.

DMV officials in Sacramento confirmed that's the way it is, but Chazin is steamed.

"They should just vacate this, and quit wasting everyone's time and money," he says.

EXTRA! Catch our blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.

Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Phil can be seen on KPIX morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle