Thursday, October 27, 2011

Villaraigosa, Boxer press for federal funds for 6th St. Bridge

The 6th Street Viaduct, built in 1932, is not likely to collapse in a major earthquake, officials say. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times

The 6th Street Bridge -– which crosses over the 101 Freeway and the Los Angeles River near downtown -– is not likely to immediately collapse, but officials offered a grim portrait of its structural integrity Thursday morning, saying it has an incurable “cancer” eating away at supports and that it likely could not survive an earthquake.

“It has fallen into major disrepair over the years,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said at a news conference near the bridge. “We know that this bridge is at risk if we have a major earthquake,” she said.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stressed that the bridge is still safe for traffic and that “engineers would have closed it down if it wasn’t safe enough.”

He and Boxer used the news conference to urge leaders there to act quickly to pass measures increasing spending for transportation infrastructure.

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