Your eyes do not deceive you: after six years, construction is set to come to a close next month for the new Sixth Street Viaduct. The $588-million structure, which spans 3,500 feet across the L.A. River between Boyle Heights and the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles, will open to the public in a two-day celebration on Saturday, July 9 and Sunday, July 10, 14th District Councilmember Kevin de Leon announced this week. — Urbanize Los Angeles
The largest bridge project in the history of Los Angeles is finally here. Designed by a team including architect Michael Maltzan and HNTB, the Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Project sees the creation of a new bridge, dubbed “The Ribbon of Light”, to replace the original 1932 structure. The new structure’s distinguishing feature is its LED-lit arches that reference the iconic metal arches of its predecessor. In addition to restoring an important connection between the Arts District on the west side of the Los Angeles River and the historic neighborhood of Boyle Heights on the east side, the bridge provides new sidewalks and protected bike lanes.
With the new viaduct complete, the Bureau of Engineering will now move on to constructing a 12-acre park underneath the structure. This $40 million endeavor will provide access to the Los Angeles River, public art, recreational programming, and more. It is expected to break ground in 2023.
4 Comments
Putting a bridge in their portfolio is an all-time dream of most architects. At that, a beautiful infrastructure like this. Congratulations to everyone involved in this project from the architects to City Engineering Dept.
The next phase must be to connect East LA to the other side of the river with a social boost to the East. Ie: supply the community with tools to equate the unification and to benefit its populations.
I hope this bridge puts an end to underservedness of the Latino and Asian communities without the perils of unfair gentrification by the nonlocal developers.
Thats what I thought, Orhan, but there has been significant opposition by the Boyle Heights community to the bridge, as they say it will accelerate gentrification rather than address it...
doctor, yes there's resistance at ELA... People know very well they won't be able to live in one of those overpriced new apartments with 'creative' looking metal screens per design review boards. But, how long? So far, the frontier is at the Mariachi Square.
Only in recent years these Geo-Engineering aerosol sprays appear in most pictures now. LA used to have sapphire blue skies without clouds, artificial or natural, for 90% of the year - Hollywood films could count on that, and verified in the films from more than a decade ago. Now we're lucky if we get a few days of blue skies. But the hive-mind, entrance-herd of smart-phone addicts will deny observational reality and sip on fluoride. 'Climate change' is deliberate - Just observe the alchemized "weather" over Los Angeles for a day.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.