Most, if not all, of the Vincent Thomas Bridge could close for one to two years beginning around 2025 so the nearly 60-year-old San Pedro span can get a new roadbed for the first time since it was built.
Details on the California Department of Transportation project, estimated to cost $628.5 million, are just now rolling out — with the news coming as a surprise to many of those who will be heavily impacted.
Caltrans will host a virtual meeting, as part of an extensive state and federal scoping process for the project, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 4. Work is anticipated to take place from 2025 to 2027.
Replacing the roadway, Caltrans officials say, is necessary to maintain the bridge, which turns 60 in November, into the future. The road in both directions has been damaged over time by saltwater, moisture and heavy use.
But depending on what construction option received approval — there are three alternatives Caltrans is weighing and asking for feedback on — it will fully or partially close the bridge for long periods of time.
The bridge is heavily traveled daily by port workers, container trucks, and a regular flow of others driving to and from the port complex and between Long Beach and San Pedro. The bridge can back up quickly when a lane is shut down because of a crash or repair work.
The roadway, called the bridge deck, received a short-term fix in 2009 with a new polyester concrete overlay. But that cannot be done again, said Caltrans Environmental Senior Planner Jason Roach.
That 2009 overlay, Roach said, “is starting to see cracks. It worked (well for a few years) but another polyester overlay is not going to cut it.”
The new roadway being planned is certified to last 75 years, according to Caltrans.
In addition to the deck, some side railings will also be replaced to align with current safety standards, Roach said. Caltrans is working with the state Department of Historic Preservation to make sure the new pieces conform with the historic look and design of the bridge, which has two lanes running in each direction and connects to Route 47, providing links to Terminal Island and Long Beach.
The goal is to leave the appearance of the beloved emerald green, mile-long span unaltered, Roach said.
Still, the project is sure to bring some major traffic headaches to the region and especially to the surrounding Harbor Area communities that rely on the bridge, which replaced a ferry boat in the early 1960s when it opened.
Residents are being asked to weigh in on three construction options:
- A single-stage construction project that would result in a full bridge closure for up to nine to 12 months, with detours and work ongoing 24/7.
- A two-stage process that would require a partial bridge closure for 18-24 months, with one lane open and three closed, and with night work and extended weekend closures.
- A three-stage plan that would result in partial bridge closures for up to 24-30 months; one lane would be open and one closed in each direction, with night work and extended weekend closures, expanding the total work time to 30-36 months, but with no full closures.
Only a handful of people attended the in-person Wilmington informational session, despite Caltrans saying they’d distributed 11,000 flyers.
The low turnout showed that Caltrans needed to do a better job at spreading the word, said Los Angeles Councilmember Tim McOsker.
The project, he said, is a necessary one to ensure the safety and long life of the bridge going forward.
But it will also be a major disruption to thousands in the surrounding communities who rely on the bridge, McOsker added.
“What I’m concerned about,” he said, “is the information (about the project) is not widely known by many people.”
A larger crowd, though, is expected for the second, albeit virtual-only, meeting this week. The public can attend by going to virtualeventroom.com/caltrans/vtb or calling in by dialing 669-444-9171 and entering the meeting identification number, which is 851 3202 5564.
The work is required, Caltrans said, to “preserve the bridge’s structural integrity and to enhance the bridge’s overall safety.”
Traffic studies are being done now and more information will be available on various alternative routes and other details this summer, Roach said. Primary east-west links from the Harbor Area to Long Beach include Pacific Coast Highway, Anaheim Street and Harry Bridges Boulevard.
“We have a whole traffic team that is working overtime; the study got underway in late February so they just got started,” Roach said. “We’re pressing them to wrap it up.”
Comments at the initial Wilmington meeting centered around the heavy toll that community takes from port-related traffic already, Roach said.
Tony Gioiello, deputy executive director of development for the Port of Los Angeles, said Caltrans recently approached POLA with details “so we can help plan this project.”
“We raised a concern about the (shortest) option that would include a full bridge closure,” Gioiello said, adding that among the concerns are detours of cargo that would wind up going through the Wilmington community.
“We met and said let’s work together as these options are being developed,” Gioiello said in a telephone interview. “We’re working to try to minimize any disruptions to cargo flow and impacts on traffic. They were very receptive.”
McOsker, for his part, said widespread discussions are needed.
“I’m really going to call for everyone with an interest in traffic moving down the 110 (Freeway) and going over the bridge to show up” at Thursday’s virtual meeting, McOsker said. “We need to demand a very thorough and complete review of what the rerouting implications (in the construction options) will mean to our community. I’m very concerned about routing more traffic through Wilmington, and there needs to be adequate signage coming down the 110.”
There will be a thorough process, Roach said, noting the bridge is long and travels over what has historically been the busiest port in the nation.
“The bridge is unique,” he said of some of the construction challenges ahead. “At the same time, it’s historical so we’re working with the state Department of Historic Preservation.”
Impacts to Wilmington especially are being weighed, Roach said.
“Wilmington is (designated as) an environmental justice community and we don’t want to adversely affect the residents there,” Roach said, adding he has seen the numerous potholes and other conditions of the roads there, most falling within LA city’s jurisdiction to repair.
Though Long Beach built a new bridge on its side of the port complex — the Long Beach International Gateway, which replaced the Gerald Desmond Bridge — there are currently no plans to replace the distinctive San Pedro suspension bridge that opened in 1963, Roach said.
For now, Gioiello said, a new bridge “is not warranted.”
“Caltrans,” he said, “does a great job working on the bridge and maintaining it.”
But a 2003 traffic congestion study commissioned by the Port of Los Angeles indicated then that there was a deterioration of the deck because of saltwater and moisture on the structural steel.
The report, done by Meyer, Mohaddes Associates Inc., concluded 20 years ago that the bridge, which was built to last 75 years, could reach its capacity as early as 2010 in light of the growing port traffic.
Alternates suggested then included modifying or upgrading the bridge, replacing it altogether or making “other network improvements.”
One of those projects is actually in the works. An effort to reconfigure a major off-ramp that connects to the bridge should be complete by the time Caltrans begins the bridge roadway project, Gioiello said.
Any bridge projects must also be finished before the Summer Olympics come to L.A. in 2028.
“The Olympics has sort of a skew for everything,” Roach said. “We want to have everything done by then, and there also are funding constraints. The goal is to be done by 2027.”
Besides providing written and verbal comments at Thursday’s scoping meeting, community members can also send their thoughts to:
- caltransvtb@virtualeventroom.net, with the subject line “VTB Deck Replacement Project.”
- Jason Roach, senior environmental planner, Division of Environmental Planning (Project EA 07-39020), California Department of Transportation, District 7, 100 South Main Street, MS 16A, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Information about the project can be found at virtualeventroom.com/caltrans/vtb.
