When the 6th Street Bridge opened, it was promoted as a gateway to usher in a new era for Los Angeles, an architectural masterpiece showcasing the city\u2019s place on the world stage before the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics. <\/p>\n
With its 10 rising arches, illuminated with thousands of LEDs to look like a ribbon of light for miles around, the bridge was hailed as the next L.A. monument, up there with the likes of the Hollywood sign and the \u201cUrban Light\u201d assemblage at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.<\/p>\n
But three years later, the lofty aspirations for the bridge have gone dark, along with its rising arches, because of copper thieves. Today, the viaduct is less an emblem of urban architectural modernity and more a safety risk for drivers, joggers and pedestrians crossing the Los Angeles River at night.<\/p>\n
The 6th Street Viaduct was the city\u2019s most expensive bridge project to date, costing an estimated $588 million, and was meant to set off a wave of other public projects across the city. According to estimates from city officials, the thieves who stripped the bridge\u2019s copper wiring probably netted about $11,000.<\/p>\n
But it will cost the city $2.5 million to assess and repair the damage, according to Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, whose district includes downtown and Boyle Heights.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fully funded, and it will be lit, I\u2019ve been assured by many departments, by the 2028 Olympics,\u201d Jurado said about the proposed repairs. She\u2019s also asked the city to allocate $1.7 million in discretionary funds for a dedicated streetlight repair team in her district.<\/p>\n
The lights on the 3,500-foot-long bridge are not standardized compared to the rest of the city\u2019s lighting network, according to the Department of Public Works, and repairs need to come out of different funding plans. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe design process is starting this fall, and that\u2019s the most important part, because we want to make sure it stays beautiful,\u201d Jurado said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t change the design, but also is able to resist any kind of theft.\u201d <\/p>\n
That could include cement over the electric boxes, welding them down, or setting up alarms to notify the city when someone breaks in, said Director of Bureau of Street Lightning Miguel Sangalang.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 6th Street Bridge in July 2022.<\/p>\n
(Brian van der Brug\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Since it reopened in July 2022, thieves have pulled more than 38,000 feet, or more than seven miles, of copper wire<\/a> from the 6th Street Viaduct, making it one of the largest casualties of scrap metal thieves plundering California\u2019s landmarks and infrastructure.<\/p>\n The optimism some residents felt when the bridge reopened has since been replaced with cynicism, as its remained dark for more than a year.<\/p>\n \u201cJust put some lights up,\u201d said Jesse Acevedo, part of a running group that crossed the bridge on a recent October night. \u201cYou know that everywhere else in the city is lit up. I\u2019ve been to Beverly Hills around this time, and it\u2019s brighter than anything, than daytime. Why can\u2019t we get some lights?\u201d<\/p>\n Acevedo is a part of the Boyle Heights Bridge Runners Club, a group of several dozen locals who jog around the area on weekday evenings.<\/p>\n About 60 joggers crossed the bridge on a recent evening run, completely immersed in darkness.<\/p>\n Their silhouettes moved through the inky darkness as they approached the city skyline and looped back toward their start. They passed a homeless encampment, apartments and completely darkened streets on their run around Boyle Heights. <\/p>\n \u201cMy main concern is that one of our runners can be injured because it is dangerous with the lack of lighting,\u201d runner Beatriz Batres said.<\/p>\n Because the running club\u2019s weekly route crosses over the bridge, the jog is preceded by a meeting in Mariachi Plaza, where the route is reviewed and Acevedo distributes spare lights to runners who need them.<\/p>\n On the bridge, the runners are illuminated by passing cars, flashing lights on their clothes or their phone flashlight pointed at the path ahead of them. Even the surrounding street lights and bus stops are dark. <\/p>\n This wasn\u2019t what residents on the Eastside thought they were getting. Historically, residents on L.A.\u2019s Eastside have said they\u2019ve felt invisible and ignored by the larger powers that be and the viaduct was a sign of changes to come. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was an opportunity to be hopeful,\u201d said Lissette Perez, one of the running club\u2019s founders. \u201cIt was literally a beam of light, right?\u201d <\/p>\n But since then, she said the city has stumbled on protecting the bridge, and the surrounding communities.<\/p>\n \u201cI just hope that the city implements or figures out a new way to have lighting that isn\u2019t so attractive to thieves, that isn\u2019t so profitable,\u201d Perez said.<\/p>\n According to the city\u2019s Bureau of Street Lighting, there were 46,000 service requests for light outages last year. Many of those were based in Koreatown, Westlake and in Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez\u2019s (D-Los Angeles) district that includes downtown and Boyle Heights. Nearly 40% of those service requests were related to copper wire theft, according to Gonzalez\u2019s office. Last year, there were 1,900 street light outages reported in Boyle Heights.<\/p>\n For years, thieves have gone after copper wherever they can find it to sell for scrap. They have targeted telecommunications infrastructure<\/a>, light poles<\/a> and fire hydrants<\/a>.<\/p>\n A damaged streetlight in downtown Los Angeles.<\/p>\n 1 <\/p>\n 2 <\/p>\n 3 <\/p>\n 4 <\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> Members of the Boyle Heights Bridge Runners club make their way toward the 6th Street Bridge on Oct. 1. 2.<\/strong> Runners cross the bridge with their own lighting. 3.<\/strong> Lissette Perez takes the lead as club members meet at Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights. 4.<\/strong> Runners against the downtown skyline. <\/p>\n With no signs of the problem abating, state lawmakers are calling for harsher penalties for thieves and stringent requirements for the sale of copper wire and other scrap metal. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is a problem that\u2019s not just centered in Los Angeles,\u201d Gonzalez said at a recent press conference at the base of the bridge. He was joined by other elected officials, residents and law enforcement top brass who asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign Gonzalez\u2019s bill, AB 476. <\/p>\n If signed into law, junk dealers and recyclers would be required to collect more detailed information from anyone trying to sell copper wire, manhole covers, fire hydrants or other scrap metal. Other materials like streetlights, traffic signals and the types of plaques removed from cemeteries and statues, would be illegal to possess without proper documentation.<\/p>\n The bill would also seek to bring down stricter penalties and larger fines on sellers and buyers. <\/p>\n \u201cEvery stolen wire is more than metal ripped from the ground,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cIt\u2019s light ripped from our communities. It\u2019s the street where children walk home from school left in the darkness. It\u2019s the small-business owner closing early because the block that they work on feels unsafe.<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s office said it has until Sunday to sign the bill. It declined to comment. <\/p>\n L.A. County\u2018s top prosecutor, Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman, supports Gonzalez\u2019s bill and said a statewide initiative would ensure that thieves couldn\u2019t skirt local rules because it puts regulations in place for recyclers too.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to make sure that you are then abiding by the law,\u201d he said. \u201cIf not, you\u2019re going to be looking at felonies, you\u2019re going to be looking at thousands of dollars of fines, and we\u2019re going to come after each and every one of the illegal junk and metal recyclers, and we will be absolutely relentless.\u201d<\/p>\n State lawmakers are calling for harsher penalties for copper thieves and stringent requirements for the sale of such scrap metal.<\/p>\n Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said that if the bill passes, deputies may go undercover to ensure businesses are complying with the new regulations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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