California

LA's Half-a-Billion-Dollar Bridge Shut Down After Just 2 Weeks

Street racing and other hooliganism has plagued the 6th Street Viaduct since the day it opened. Now the city is scrambling to add speed bumps and barriers.

By Andy Kalmowitz
Yesterday 2:00PM

The 6th Street Viaduct – Los Angeles’s newest bridge, which opened just two weeks ago – is now closed until further notice, largely due to a near constant stream of illegal activity from drivers taking over the brand-new, $588 million bridge in downtown L.A.

Street racing and other automotive sideshows have plagued the bridge since it first opened on July 10th, according to CBS News. The LAPD has shut down the bridge numerous times in an effort to curb these events, but to no avail. Now, speed bumps are being installed and LAPD Chief Michel Moore is nearly out of ideas.

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The original bridge the Viaduct replaces was an iconic LA landmark, seen in movies like Grease and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The new bridge wasted no time making a name for itself, clearly.

So far, there’s no timeline for when the Viaduct will re-open. When it does, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the new medians and barriers will prevent further nonsense from shutting down the bridge all over again.