Residents, port users worry Vincent Thomas Bridge work could cause ‘Harborgeddon’
Replacing the bridge’s deteriorating deck could take up to four years, depending on which schedule is chosen; Caltrans is expected to decide this fall.
With state transportation officials expected to announce the Vincent Thomas Bridge construction schedule this fall, worry is growing among some public officials, residents of Long Beach and other surrounding communities, and businesses and workers who use the San Pedro Bay ports.
The California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, has proposed four main scheduling options for replacing the deteriorating deck of the 60-year-old bridge, with timelines ranging from less than a year and a half to four years and costs projected between $620 million and $745 million.
While there are routes to Terminal Island and port facilities from the north and east, the Vincent Thomas Bridge is the only access from the west. Potential detours could send more trucks and other vehicles – an estimated 60% of those using the bridge are non-port traffic – through Wilmington, but also onto the 405 and 710 freeways, according to the state’s environmental study of the project.
Long Beach and Los Angeles port officials and organizations representing dockworkers, trucking companies and cargo shippers are urging Caltrans to choose the fastest option: closing the bridge to all traffic for 16 months, using pre-cast decking (rather than pouring the material on-site, which would take more than twice as long), and working around the clock.
Because the twin ports handle about 35% of all cargo container traffic that passes through U.S. ports, “any delay in the completion of the project will certainly cause additional and unnecessary, economic, and potential security risks,” Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka wrote in a July 15 letter to Caltrans that was signed by officials with the Port of Long Beach, three local chapters of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association.
“Rip the band-aid off,” said Harbor Trucking Association CEO Matt Schrapp, who also signed Seroka’s letter. “The shorter the project is, the better.”
Truckers going to and from the ports would have one less thing to worry about if they know the bridge is fully closed, rather than trying to remember which lanes may be open or calculate where backups will be worst, Schrapp said in an interview, adding, “it’s just about certainty.”
But some residents take the opposite view.
“The preference would be for them to do (the work) in the evenings and on one half (of the bridge) at a time,” said Theral Golden, a West Long Beach resident who has been fighting air pollution in his community for decades.
“To me, that would be the sensible way to do it,” and it would put less pressure on side streets, he said.
Caltrans is also considering schedules that would leave one lane of the bridge open in each direction during weekdays with some full closures overnight and on weekends, which could stretch the project to more than two and a half years; or leaving all lanes open during the day and closing the bridge for work every night, an option that could take as long as four years to complete.
Construction on the Vincent Thomas Bridge is expected to start in 2025, so the lengthier schedules could bump up against the 2028 Olympics, which will be hosted by Los Angeles but will hold a number of events at venues in Long Beach.
Seroka’s letter also stressed that Caltrans should make sure it coordinates the bridge work with road projects on routes that could serve as detours, such as the planned widening of Alameda Street in Wilmington.
And that raises an issue most people can agree on: that communication between Caltrans and local agencies on how to manage traffic and detours and when to complete other roadwork in the area will be absolutely vital.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn – whose 4th District includes Long Beach, San Pedro and Wilmington – also wrote to Caltrans in July expressing concerns about the bridge construction’s impact on neighborhoods, commuters and goods movement.
She quoted Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker’s doom-saying description of the project, “Harborgeddon,” and urged state transportation officials to “work with cities up and down the I-110 and I-710 Freeways” to design detour routes and communicate with the public far ahead of the start of construction on the bridge.
The final environmental report on the Vincent Thomas Bridge deck replacement project, including the chosen construction schedule and responses to 260 public comments, is due out this fall. More information on the project, including a fact sheet and the draft environmental study, can be found at this link.
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