View of the San Pedro side of the Vincent Thomas Bridge. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
LA Mayor Karen Bass, Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka, California Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin and Caltrans District 7 Director Gloria Roberts sign a Memorandum of Understanding to evaluate long-term options for replacing or modifying the Vincent Thomas Bridge aboard the Battleship Iowa in San Pedro on Thursday, July 30, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
LA Executive Director Gene Seroka speaks before the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to evaluate long-term options for replacing or modifying the Vincent Thomas Bridge aboard the Battleship Iowa in San Pedro on Thursday, July 30, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
From left, LA Mayor Karen Bass, Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka, California Secretary of Transportation Toks Omishakin and Caltrans District 7 Director Gloria Roberts sign a Memorandum of Understanding to evaluate long-term options for replacing or modifying the Vincent Thomas Bridge aboard the Battleship Iowa in San Pedro on Thursday, July 30, 2026. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram/SCNG)
Assemblyman Vincent Thomas points out a drawing of proposed San Pedro tube between San Pedro and Terminal Island in this May 18, 1960 photo. He spearheaded the drive for underwater auto-truck tube between San Pedro and Terminal Island, and later championed the plan for a bridge project for on which construction began in 1960. (USC Digital Library)
Assemblyman Vincent Thomas stands under the Vincent Thomas Bridge on Nov. 11, 1978. (UCLA Library Department of Special Collections)
The two main towers of the Vincent Thomas Bridge have been completed in this 1962 photo looking west from Terminal Island towards San Pedro. The bridge opened to traffic in 1963. (Long Beach Public Library Digital Archive)
Traffic makes its way across the Vincent Thomas Bridge on Wednesday Feb. 21, 2024, as high clouds cover the mountains following Tuesday night’s rain. (Contributing photographer Chuck Bennett)
The contestants of the 14th Annual Conquer the Bridge Race cross the halfway point on the Vincent Thomas bridge in San Pedro, CA on September 4th, 2023. (Photo by Gil Castro-Petres, Contributing Photographer)
The Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro gets headlight trails in this time exposure at 6pm recently. (Photo by Chuck Bennett, Contributing Photographer)
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View of the San Pedro side of the Vincent Thomas Bridge. (Photo by Dean Musgrove, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
With the scheduled community meetings now over, the launch of a project to replace the decking on the 63-year-old Vincent Thomas Bridge — which will close the San Pedro span for more than a year — is entering its final lap.
The iconic green bridge is set to fully close down by midnight on Nov. 7, and isn’t expected to reopen until February 2028. The goal is to have the bridge — which overall, is structurally sound, Caltrans has said — finished in time for the L.A. Summer Olympics.
And while many questions have been asked and answered as preparations have continued, the projected 16-month closure is sure to pose challenges, confusion and disruption to long-established commuter patterns.
“I think we’re all mentally preparing for it,” said Elise Swanson, CEO and president of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce. “We’re all bracing for two months of chaos until people develop their regular traffic patterns.”
While the run-up to the bridge closure has been long, the reality of it all — the first time motorists forget and begin to head to the bridge to get to Long Beach or the 710 Freeway — could come as an unpleasant reality check.
The heavily traveled, four-lane bridge arches over the Port of Los Angeles’ Main Channel, heading west to east between Terminal Island and San Pedro. It is a key connector for San Pedro-to-Long Beach commuter traffic.
While the road, or bridge “deck,” has been frequently repaired since the Vincent Thomas opened in 1963, that is no longer a sufficient fix, state transportation authorities have said. A complete replacement of the deck is now needed, Caltrans officials have said.
James Brown, who owns San Pedro Brewing Company and Port Town Brewing Co., said there will likely be some upheaval.
“We have probably four or five employees who live in Long Beach and they’re a little apprehensive about what’s going to happen when the bridge closes,” Brown said. “I think there’s a little concern about traffic and how long it will take to get here and back.”
There has also been some trepidation expressed among customers who are dockworkers and rely on the bridge to get to and from worksites at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, he said.
Caltrans has held numerous public meetings since notice about the project was given several years ago, at first leaving many in the community stunned at the news. Officials have shared the construction schedule, detour routes and a traffic management plan, and have taken questions and concerns from residents.
Los Angeles Councilmember Tim McOsker, who originally warned that a long bridge closure could result in a “harborgeddon” of traffic delays and confusion, has aggressively pushed for detour route repairs, signage and a broad distribution of information to prepare the community.
Signage will indeed go up to help motorists navigate around the closed bridge. And online mapping services such as Waze have also been pulled in to update their routes while the bridge is out of service.
Caltrans is putting the final touches on the advance preparation work needed as the closure approaches, said agency spokesperson Nathan Bass.
Caltrans personnel have held several outreach meetings in affected communities, with the final one conducted earlier this month. Questions seem to remain about detour routes, which are designated via links on the Caltrans website.
Wilmington residents have expressed concerns about additional truck traffic cutting through their community; some have also wondered whether the upheaval could affect pollution readings in nearby residential areas.
Road improvements, such as repaving adjacent streets that will see more traffic with the necessary detours, have been made, Caltrans said.
The project, expected to cost $750 million, will also usher in yet more focus on the aging bridge itself after the roadway is replaced. It has already led to a multi-agency effort to begin gathering information for building a new, larger and taller bridge that would be constructed alongside the Vincent Thomas, which would remain open until its successor is ready to go.
The Vincent Thomas Bridge, named for the late California Assemblymember who pushed for its development, cost $21 million when it was built. The suspension bridge stretches 6,050 feet over the Port of Los Angeles’ Main Channel. It opened to traffic on Nov. 15, 1963.
Creating a new replacement bridge would be a long and costly effort. A new bridge at the neighboring Port of Long Beach, for example, cost $1.46 billion and took 10 years. It opened in 2020
The new West Harbor waterfront development and other overall additions and improvements to the port town will at least keep folks entertained during the bridge repair process, Brown said.
“It’s a great time to be alive in San Pedro,” he said.
But as for the inconvenience of the closed bridge, Brown said, “we’ll have to suck it up for at least a year.”
Information and updates about the bridge closure are available on the Caltrans website.