{"id":43395,"date":"2025-11-08T01:15:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T01:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/43395\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T01:15:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T01:15:07","slug":"plan-to-raise-vt-bridge-during-deck-replacement-nixed-opening-discussions-for-new-bridge-daily-breeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/43395\/","title":{"rendered":"Plan to raise VT Bridge during deck replacement nixed, opening discussions for new bridge \u2013 Daily Breeze"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hopes that raising the Vincent Thomas Bridge<\/a> could be done simultaneously with a planned deck replacement project that\u2019s fast approaching have been dashed \u2014 opening the possibility that perhaps building a new bridge might be worth pursuing instead.<\/p>\n

The now-nixed bridge-raising proposal, publicly pitched and pursued by Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Gene Seroka in July, is needed to accommodate the much larger ships now coming online. Some 40% of the port\u2019s terminal space sits behind the Vincent Thomas Bridge, which is too low for newer ships to pass under.<\/p>\n

But state officials said combining that proposal with the approaching California Department of Transportation\u2019s plans to shut down the bridge for more than a year to replace the road deck would be too complicated and could pose complications with regard to government funding already dedicated to just the one project. It would also have added as much as an additional year to the full bridge closure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe timing just didn\u2019t work out,\u201d Mike Jacob, president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, said in a Friday, Nov. 7, phone interview.<\/p>\n

Seroka\u2019s proposal, projected to cost $1.5 billion, called for raising the bridge, which was built in 1963, about 26 feet higher over the water to accommodate the world\u2019s largest \u2014 and cleanest \u2014 container ships. Combining it with the Caltrans project would have put it on a fast track.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll parties recognize the benefits of additional clearance to jobs and the long-term economic vitality of both the Port of Los Angeles and California,\u201d Seroka said in a written statement on Friday. \u201cWhile we were hopeful that we would be able to include a bridge raising component into Caltrans\u2019 pending critical maintenance project, we\u2019re encouraged by the strong support of the (Gov. Gavin Newson) administration to quickly explore additional projects, which could include raising the bridge or building a new crossing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The California State Transportation Agency made the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vincent Thomas Bridge is a structure of historic and economic importance in the Los Angeles region,\u201d a CalSTA spokesperson said in a written statement, adding that the bridge sees more than 10,000 truck trips a day and, because the Port of Los Angeles is the busiest in the nation, is crucial to the nation\u2019s economy. \u201cVincent Thomas Bridge is scheduled for a much-needed redecking project, which will improve safety and the movement of goods across the bridge, beginning in January of 2026 and ending in advance of the LA 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.<\/p>\n

CalSTA, the statement added, \u201cwelcomes continued discussions to a path forward for that possibility while we work to make sure the bridge is structurally sound and safe for the motoring public in the meantime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seroka, for his part, said he is confident that state support remains to pursue options that are necessary for the port to keep up with the growing cargo flows.<\/p>\n

The delay, Jacob said, could also open up the conversation for possibly building a new bridge instead.<\/p>\n

That would be much more costly, however: The neighboring International Gateway Bridge, which serves the Port of Long Beach, took 10 years to construct and cost well more than a billion dollars. Building a new bridge now would be much pricier with added inflation. But it could be done, Jacob said, while keeping the Vincent Thomas Bridge operating.<\/p>\n

Some have also floated the idea of constructing a tunnel under the harbor.<\/p>\n

The discussion won\u2019t be a quick one and, Jacob said, community input would clearly be needed.<\/p>\n

Seroka\u2019s idea of a bridge hoist \u2014 which would be accomplished by putting sleeve lifts and platforms on the bridge\u2019s four legs, a technology that has been used on bridges in New York and Georgia \u2014 would make room for the largest and cleanest container ships in the world, extending the bridge\u2019s working life for up to 75 years. It would also allow a flood of new container ship business to reach terminals located in the farthest reaches of the port.<\/p>\n

The emerald green Vincent Thomas Bridge, about a mile long, is small by today\u2019s standards, offering only two lanes in each direction with no shoulder space. It spans from San Pedro to Terminal Island. It also carries some sentiment in San Pedro, where it has long been a symbolic and recognizable landmark of the port town. It\u2019s appeared in movies and television programs through the years as well.<\/p>\n

If raising the bridge were to be taken off the table, Jacob said, \u201cit opens up the possibility of saying, \u2018Maybe instead of raising the current bridge, maybe the better thing is to replace it,\u2019 so that would become part of the discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casting a broad net for discussion would open up a more thorough conversation of the best possibilities, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a bit of liberation associated with that,\u201d Jacob said.<\/p>\n

The full road replacement on the bridge, meanwhile, is fast approaching. Preliminary work will be ongoing starting in 2026, with the full bridge closure set for late next year and a reopening tentatively in early 2028.<\/p>\n

Detour routes are planned but a loss of all access to the bridge \u2014 which carries heavy traffic for both ports and is a commuter connector between Long Beach and San Pedro \u2014 for more than a year is expected to cause traffic disruption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hopes that raising the Vincent Thomas Bridge could be done simultaneously with a planned deck replacement project that\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,3172,131,133,132,47,137,100,1438,1439],"class_list":["post-43395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-california","tag-harbor-area","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-news","tag-port-of-los-angeles","tag-san-pedro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}