As Los Angeles celebrates the opening of the new Sixth Street Viaduct, Rebuild SoCal Partnership congratulates the city leadership, construction firms, and thousands of union workers who helped to complete the project. The organization also calls attention to the nearly 1,500 bridges in California that need repair.
“The Sixth Street Viaduct represents a historic investment in infrastructure that provided jobs to thousands of local workers,” Jon Switalski, Executive Director of Rebuild SoCal Partnership. “As we join the City of LA and all who worked on the project celebrating its opening, we can not lose sight of the nearly 1,500 bridges in California that are still in need of repair. Let’s look to the Sixth Street Viaduct as a model for infrastructure investment throughout the state. We can’t wait for earthquakes or tragedy to strike. California needs to repair its bridges now.”
Monique Galaviz is a carpenter with Local 714 who worked on constructing the 6th street Viaduct. “Upgrading our bridges creates thousands of jobs and keeps us safe,” said Galaviz. “The bridges I repair and build help police and firefighters respond to emergencies. They help people get to work safely. With good wages and health coverage, I can take care of my newborn son.”
The 6th Street Viaduct replacement is the largest bridge project in the history of Los Angeles. The project team included more women than any commercial project in Los Angeles and nearly doubled the Department of Labor’s participation goal of 6.9% female crew members.
The State of California Bridges
- According to the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) 2022 Report, 1,493 bridges in California are “structurally deficient.” (Source)
- Five of the top ten most traveled structurally deficient bridges in the country are in Southern California, with a combined average daily travel of 1.25 million. (Source)
- California’s bridges were rated a C- as of California’s 2019 Infrastructure Report Card (Source)
- 53% of California bridges are at least 50 years old (Source)
- 673,254,080 million cars drive over bridges daily in California. (Source)
Visit www.Rebuildsocal.org/fixeverybridge to let your California representative know that you support fixing California’s bridges.
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