After years of planning, California transportation officials are preparing to shut down the Vincent Thomas Bridge on Nov. 7 to replace its deck.
The bridge will be closed to all traffic for 16 months. Locals aren’t looking forward to increased traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, and disruptions to operations at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Caltrans said the deck replacement is necessary to preserve the structural integrity of the bridge and improve safety for maintenance workers, truck drivers and the traveling public.
The Vincent Thomas Bridge is a key artery connecting San Pedro to Terminal Island, where the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach are located. It opened in 1963 and spans just over one mile.
“It’s not only for employees going back and forth through the port complex,” Elise Swanson, president of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview last year. “The bridge is really a connection to our communities for art, culture, dining.”
The bridge runs along State Route 47 between Interstate 110 and Terminal Island. The island connects on its east end to Long Beach via the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge.
Caltrans said it held more than 100 public and stakeholder meetings to prepare surrounding communities for construction, including developing the traffic detour route.
Officials have completed road improvements along the detour route and will deploy traffic control officers at 18 key intersections during the bridge’s full closure.
The detour route will take traffic to and from Terminal Island along Front Street and John S. Gibson Boulevard in San Pedro and along Harry Bridges Boulevard and Henry Ford Avenue in Wilmington. The route also utilizes the state highway system, including Interstate 110 and Interstate 710.
Community members are concerned the closure will increase traffic in residential areas not along the designated detour routes. Although vehicles will be encouraged to use the official route, Caltrans acknowledged that drivers will take the path of least resistance to their destination.
“What is being done to address increased traffic that will flow on unofficial detour routes,?” asked one community member during a virtual open house on Wednesday.
Caltrans said it has notified Google Maps and Apple Maps about the closure and the designated detour route.
“We are engaging with navigation providers with the goal of trying to direct people away from neighborhood streets to use the designated detour routes and also the state highway system,” said Siew Mei Tan, chief of Caltrans’ District 7 Office of Mobility Programs. “We understand that there are a lot of concerns about traffic cutting through streets in the neighborhood.”
Caltrans is also working with the Los Angeles Unified School District to distribute air filters to schools in the area. Qualifying residents will also receive air filters to mitigate pollution from diesel and heavy construction equipment.
“Traffic will be idling more frequently, and there may be increased air pollution and impacts in the community because of traffic related to this project,” Nathan Bass, a Caltrans public information officer, said at the open house.
Other residents voiced concerns at the open house about the bridge’s structural integrity.
“I’m very concerned about the possible corrosion, specifically rust, of all the hardware that holds the bridge together and that attaches the cables,” one participant said.
Caltrans said several investigations concluded the bridge is safe for travelers. The deck replacement is necessary because traffic loads on the span have become increasingly heavy, and salt air has eroded bridge materials.
Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, previously asked Caltrans to consider raising the bridge’s height as part of its existing construction plans. Seroka said raising the bridge would allow larger, more efficient cargo ships to access capacity at the port.
Officials rejected that request last December, saying the deck replacement had to begin as soon as possible and it could not accommodate additional planning to raise the bridge.
The bridge will probably reopen to traffic in early 2028, Caltrans said, and construction work will continue after it reopens until early 2029.