By City News Service
A stretch of Ocean Boulevard near the Port of Long Beach will close tonight and remain blocked throughout the weekend as demolition work begins on a Terminal Island overpass. It is part of the massive Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement project and the closure may impact thousands of drivers in that area.
Beginning at 10 p.m., westbound Ocean will be closed at Harbor Scenic Drive just west of downtown while the eastbound road will be closed at state Route 47 on Terminal Island. The road is scheduled to reopen at 5 a.m. Monday.
The southbound offramp to Ocean from the Long Beach (710) Freeway will also be closed, along with the westbound Pico Avenue ramp to Ocean. Motorists heading south on the 710 and hoping to go west toward Terminal Island will be diverted at Pacific Coast Highway, transportation officials said.
The closure is expected to affect thousands of vehicles in the port area, including trucks, but truck access will be maintained to Pier T at the port, officials said. Westbound traffic on Ocean will be diverted at Shoreline Drive to the 710 Freeway, to westbound PCH to southbound routes 103 and 47 back to Ocean. Eastbound traffic will be diverted along the same route.
Officials said access to downtown Long Beach on the 710 Freeway will be unaffected. The project is part of a $1 billion effort to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge. The new structure will include two 50-story-high towers and will be one of the tallest cable-stayed bridges in the country and the first of its kind in California, officials said. The new bridge will raise clearance over a major port shipping channel from 155 feet to 205 feet, accommodating larger ships needing to access the port's inner harbor.
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