Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson says plans will have to go “almost perfectly” for Shoemaker Bridge to be open by 2028 Olympics.
The Long Beach City Council approved a resolution asking the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to relinquish responsibility of Shoemaker Bridge in order for the City to take control of rebuilding efforts.
The CTC previously planned to revamp highways throughout Long Beach, including Shoemake Bridge.
If the CTC agrees to surrender responsibility for the bridge, the City will then be in charge of any maintenance and construction related to the project. Only then will the City start to apply for construction permits to rebuild Shoemaker Bridge.
“We’re still very very, very early in this process, but making some very tangible steps which is exciting,” said Mayor Rex Richardson.
The City unveiled the design plans for the new Shoemaker Bridge at a public meeting on Dec. 9
According to a City presentation, the new Shoemaker Bridge will have four lanes connecting the I-710 to a new roundabout linking the bridge to Seventh Street and Shoreline Drive. The bridge will feature a protected shared-use path connecting Fashion Avenue in West Long Beach to a bicycle path on the east bank of the Los Angeles River, extending to Downtown Long Beach.
The bridge design also includes a pedestrian observation area on the bridge’s south side.
According to a presentation by the City, the current bridge was built in 1954 and has structural and operational issues. The rebuilt bridge will meet current design standards, and hopefully curtail accidents and fatalities on the bridge, City staff said.
It will cost an estimated $900 million to build the new bridge, and the City will search for local, state and federal sources of funding. The City has applied for $500 million in funding from the Federal Bridge Program.
The City is trying to get the new bridge built and operational by the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but Richardson expressed that this goal was tentative.
“I want to manage expectations on this goal of getting this thing opened by the Olympics; A lot of scenarios have to go well, almost perfectly, for that to happen,” Richardson said.
More information and mock-ups for the new bridge can be found at www.longbeach.gov/pw/projects/shoemaker-bridge/.
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