A 40-hour closure of a 2 1/2-mile stretch of the Hollywood (101) Freeway in the Boyle Heights area to accommodate demolition of the Sixth Street Viaduct was underway this morning.
What has been dubbed as the “101SlowJam,” began at 10 p.m. Friday and is scheduled to end at 2 p.m. Sunday, diverting traffic from an area that averages about 126,000 cars per day, according to Caltrans.
Mayor Eric Garcetti helped spread word of the closure this week by posting a music video online, belting out some soulful lyrics with the backing of the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band.
“Listening to a slow jam means never wanting it to end.’ Garcetti said. “But living through the ‘101 Slow Jam’ means planning ahead or avoiding the freeway altogether.
“My priority is ensuring that Angelenos are aware of the closure, and ready to either follow the detours, find alternate routes, take public transit, spend the weekend at home. Thanks to the cooperation of Angelenos across the city, our past freeway closures have been successful.
“If we take all it slow this weekend, this is one jam that will be over before we know it.’
A 220-foot section of the deteriorating 84-year-old bridge over the freeway will be removed during the closure, which will stretch from the Santa Monica (10) Freeway split to the interchange of the Golden State (5), 10 and 101 freeways east of downtown Los Angeles.
Closures also will affect northbound on-ramps at Sixth Street/Whittier Boulevard, Euclid Street and Soto Street; and the southbound on-ramps at Los Angeles, Commercial, Mission and Fourth streets.
Detours around the closure area are detailed at http://www.sixthstreetviaduct.org.
Garcetti vowed the freeway would be reopened by 2 p.m. Sunday — in time for the kickoff of Super Bowl 50, set for shortly after 3:30 p.m.
“So we’re asking everyone who’s traveling on freeways this weekend to plan ahead and to follow detour signs to adjacent freeways,” Garcetti said.
“As with any major transit event, our top priorities are to make sure you are safe (and) minimize the inconvenience as much as possible. So don’t go exploring to try to get a great shot or to see the bridge coming down. We want to make sure that you’re safe.”
Garcetti said last week the city will ensure there are “clearly marked” detours and “the highest standards of police and fire response throughout the weekend.”
The Sixth Street Viaduct will be replaced by a $449 million bridge following a nine-month-long demolition.
The viaduct itself was closed to traffic in January. Construction is expected to last until 2019.
“We wanted to save this bridge, but … we want people to be safe, and with the next earthquake, the old bridge just didn’t measure up,” Garcetti said.
“So we are building a new bridge that will also be seismically fit for this city, and that progress required a lot of hard work on the part of our city engineers, our public safety officers and construction crews.”
