101 Freeway Closure Underway For Bridge Demolition
BOYLE HEIGHTS (CBSLA.com) — The 40-hour closure of a stretch of the 101 Freeway in Boyle Heights has begun and will remain in effect until early Sunday afternoon as Caltrans workers tear down the 6th Street Bridge this weekend.
Nicknamed by city officials as the "101 Slow Jam," the closure will stretch from the 10-Freeway split to the interchange of the 5, 10 and 101 freeways south of Downtown Los Angeles.
The 2.5 mile stretch will be shut down between 10 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. Sunday so crews can demolish a 220-foot section of the 84-year-old bridge that is crumbling above the Hollywood Freeway from the inside out.
The bridge has appeared in a number of movies, TV shows, including "Grease," "Terminator 2," "Lost" and even Kanye West's music videos.
City Engineer Gary Lee Moore explained the demolition process. "We'll actually take out the center median down on the freeway. We'll move in the soil. Then you'll see the big excavator with the hammer on it. We'll start taking away the sidewalks and the railing. And that will start to fall down to the freeway."
Closures also will affect northbound onramps at Sixth Street/Whittier Boulevard, Euclid Street and Soto Street. The southbound onramps at Los Angeles, Commercial, Mission and Fourth streets will also be impacted. Detours around the closure can be found by clicking here.
A $449 million bridge will replace the 6th Street Viaduct in 2019.
John Gonzalez has owned and operated Smart Point Inc. for nine years. The mobile phone retail shop is just off the 101 freeway in Boyle Heights and down the road from the 6th Street bridge. He is worried about the impact the closure and the demolition will have on his business.
"This is the second most-commuted intersection in East L.A. I'm pretty sure it's going to affect us in a big way," Gonzalez said.
But the owner of Premier Savings Insurance Services next door is taking the closure in stride. "I'm not too concerned about it. I think we'll be fine. It might impact these other businesses though as far as foodwise. People might not want to travel that far to get food," Keith McCalley said. "But insurance, you've got to have it."
Across the street at Huli Huli Hawaiian Grill, manager Stephen Loc thinks the closure will actually be good for business. "Not too worried because I see as more traffic coming through, more people would see the businesses. And it would definitely help us in some way."
Gonzalez has a plan to get customers in the door despite the closure. "I'm definitely going to drop my prices. Have some promotions during the whole closure. Hopefully, that will offset what we lose.