City officials mulling longterm solutions to series of problems plaguing 6th Street Bridge
Since opening a little over three weeks ago, the 6th Street Bridge — initially intended to relieve traffic and provide a connection between the Downtown Arts District and Boyle Heights — has proven to be more of a problem than a solution.
Repeat street takeovers and vandalism are just some of the issues at hand, as city officials scramble to put together a plan to stop the series of issues stemming from the new roadway.
With street takeovers happening at any given time, as seen via footage of a car performing doughnuts in the middle of the road and block traffic in both directions just days after opening, Los Angeles Police Department officers have increased their presence in the area, in hopes of discouraging more of the same.
Over the weekend, officers stopped more than 50 different drivers for a variety of traffic violations on the bridge.
The increased law enforcement patrols over the weekend provided some temporary relief, deterring drivers looking to participate in a sideshow or different vandals looking to deface the city property. However, the immediate solution does not give a longterm answer.
"It's not something that we expect, it's something that just happened," said Thomas Corrales, the City of L.A. Public Works Project Coordinator. "We're just trying to attack this, the faster the better."
Several times now law enforcement has completely shut the bridge down overnight to prevent the street takeovers from occurring, without having to place additional units in the area.
Priority remains with keeping the bridge open, as it does offer an additional route for those looking to get to Downtown Los Angeles despite the threat of driving stunts. They also hope to keep it safe and clean for not only drivers, but pedestrians who walk along the roadway.
Installation of cameras, K-rails and rumble strips are a few of the dozens of suggestions that city officials are considering. All of which are being mulled over as they recommend a $700,000 budget to maintain upkeep of the area.
City contractors have been busy since the bridge opened, removing trash that gathers at such events, and cleaning up graffiti that often turns up overnight. Cleanup begins every morning at 5:30 a.m., sometimes lasting several hours.
"We don't have a set time, it depends how bad it is for us. Everyday is a different situation," said Humberto Bautista, Assistant Director of the Community Cleanup crews.
On at least one occasion, those crews had to clear the road of wreckage debris, after the driver of a Dodge Challenger Hellcat slammed into multiple cars before colliding with the barrier between the road and bike path on the bridge.
They're hoping that the bridge will lose its novelty in the near future, lessening the chances of takeovers hitting the area and decreasing the need for the additional patrols and improvements.
Despite all the efforts, locals still believe that the true answer will be a long time coming as people show up looking for their time in the limelight.
"That's just the world that we live in now, people are gonna try to get attention or make a scene out of whatever they can," said Greg Pritchard, who lives in the area. "This happens to be the thing that captured people's attention or imagination right now."