The aptly named "ribbon of light" bridge, a replacement for the famous Los Angeles 6th Street Viaduct Bridge, got completed this year. Costing the city and taxpayers a lofty $588 million, the project is a much anticipated update to the old bridge. The grand opening celebration started out calmly enough, with an estimated 15,000 people in attendance, local food, a classic car show, and plenty of city pride in the air. The excitement quickly turned to chaos in the coming days.Car enthusiasts and LA history buffs alike were sad to see the demolition of the original 6th street bridge (officially the 6th Street Viaduct) in 2016. Built around 1930 as part of a project to help join the downtown arts district with the Eastside Boyle Heights neighborhood, the bridge was one of the more recognizable features in a town with so many iconic locations. More than that, the 6th street bridge became legendary in LA car culture. Notably it got featured in movies, TV shows, and even Ken Block's Gymkhana 7.As the bridge aged, it not only started to look rough around the edges, it also became a risky piece of landscape in the event of a major earthquake. The Bureau of Engineering broke ground on this fabulous new replacement you see here in 2017. 6 years and $588 million dollars later, the city of Los Angeles also has a new problem on its hands involving many things up to and including sports cars.UPDATED NOVEMBER 2022: Article updated a few months after the tumultuous opening of the Sixth Street Viaduct, and we check out the evolution of the situation and the bridge's status today.
Street Racing Helps LAPD Shut 6th Street Bridge In Just Two Weeks
By July 27th, the LAPD twitter had a message for the public. The 6th Street Bridge got closed until further notice due to illegal activity and public concerns. It seems that within days of that magical grand opening, there was trouble brewing on the "Ribbon of Light" bridge. While there was most certainly illegal activity happening around the original area, the buzz in the air was stirring up a new kind of debauchery.
"Street Takeovers," Already An Issue In LA, Quickly Arrive
One of the more notable incidences to happen in the first week quickly circulated in social media. A white Dodge Challenger Hellcat is seen doing doughnuts like Richard Rawlings in one of his videos in the middle of the bridge, in typical street takeover style. Once the driver gets out of the smoke they can get seen accelerating toward the oncoming (stopped) traffic. While the Dodge Challenger Hellcat is fishtailing down the street, the driver loses control and crashes into oncoming traffic. Unbelievably, the driver gets out of the car and appears to run off. Although the suspect did not get identified, he later turned himself in.
LA has long been dealing with these takeovers. It doesn't take much effort to find countless videos and images on social media of the events and the havoc that ensues. People getting hit, thrown from cars, and even physical violence seem to be a common place. California's lawmakers are actively trying to introduce legislature to criminalize the events. Yet, they've become a constant issue that's spread across the state.
It's Not Just The Street Racing Muscle Cars
As dramatic as a Hellcat ramming into a Honda Civic hatchback is, there are plenty of other things that lead to the LAPD shutting down the bridge. There's already someone who's been the first to skateboard down the arches, shown above.
It wouldn't be a famous LA bridge without some graffiti either. Crews are tirelessly working to clean up the previous evenings tags in the morning, only to find more the next day. ABC7 reports that the city council has approved a recommendation for cleanup totaling over $700k.
Quiet Re-Opening Of LA's Bridge Following Muscle Car Madness
As quickly as the bridge got shut down, it got deemed ok to reopen by LAPD to allow traffic and potential muscle car street racers back in. In fact, this cyclical open and close procedure got done five different times during the span of July 22nd to July 26th. Leading some to wonder what the actual fix may be. The Los Angeles Police Department has already made bold statements. Heavier law enforcement presence and traffic cams at the top of the list. But, will it fix anything? Surely it will be more difficult for a street takeover to happen with constant pressure. Yet, locals worry that it may also have a reverse effect.
So far, it looks like both the bridge and law enforcement are stronger than the threat of street racing with the concrete viaduct construction still open for business and no big news since the July takeovers and closures.
Since then, the Los Angeles Times reports that there are still the burden of street takeovers, sometimes those involving street racing or stunts with an article from October 2022 reporting on three separate takeovers in one night.
It says no arrests got made - that can be tricky to safely carry out with speeding cars. The same LA Times article says, "While videos of sideshows are shared online and go viral, law enforcement maintains it’s difficult to safely detain participants when there are hundreds of spectators near a speeding vehicle performing dangerous stunts".
That's not an encouragement to go street racing, we don't condone that kind of activity, if muscle cars and sports cars get driven it should be safely, in an approved environment, and always fast.