Pier T off-ramp at the Port of Long Beach to close for new bridge construction
The Pier T Avenue off-ramp from westbound Ocean Blvd. will permanently close at 11 p.m. on Tuesday, July 9, as construction begins on Terminal Island to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge. Alternate routes will allow for continued access from Ocean Blvd. to Pier T facilities at the Port of Long Beach, said in the company's press release.
The closure will make way for the demolition of the entire Pier T Avenue off-ramp, part of which passes over Ocean Blvd.
Alternate routes/detours are:
To access Pier T from Westbound Ocean Blvd.: After crossing the Gerald Desmond Bridge, take the exit for northbound State Route (SR) 47. At the bottom of the exit, turn left at the SR-47 intersection for a U-turn under the freeway. Turn left again at the signal (toward eastbound Ocean Blvd.), and take the right lane toward Pier T.
The Port of Long Beach has temporarily re-opened the Pier T Avenue Westbound Ocean Blvd. on-ramp for vehicles leaving Pier T and heading west on Ocean Blvd. This on-ramp will remain available until a new westbound detour for Pier T is completed. To make way for the demolition of the Pier T Avenue off-ramp, there will be a temporary closure of the on-ramp from 7 a.m. on July 8 to 5 a.m. on July 15. Watch for detour signs.
The current Pier T off-ramp from eastbound Ocean Blvd. remains open, as does the on-ramp from Pier T to eastbound Ocean Blvd.
Download a flier showing a map of the closure and alternate routes.
Once the westbound Pier T Avenue off-ramp is closed, crews will begin to demolish ramp sections that are adjacent to Ocean Blvd. To demolish the portion of the Pier T Avenue off-ramp that passes over Ocean Blvd., a full closure of Ocean Blvd will be required. The schedule calls for closing Ocean Blvd. in both directions in the evening of Friday, July 12, and reopening by Monday, July 15. Westbound Ocean Blvd. will be closed between Harbor Scenic Drive and SR-47 and eastbound Ocean Blvd. will be closed at the SR-47 interchange. Also affected during this temporary weekend closure will be the Southbound 710 connector to Ocean Blvd. and the westbound Pico Avenue on-ramp to Ocean Blvd. Southbound 710 traffic seeking to go west toward Terminal Island will be diverted at Pacific Coast Highway.
The Pier T off-ramp is being demolished to make way for the new bridge at the Port of Long Beach. The approximately $1 billion Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project is expected to take about three years to build the new bridge. With the Pier T off-ramp removed, construction will begin on the West Approach of the new bridge.
With two 50-story-high towers, the new bridge will be one of the tallest cable-stayed bridges in the United States and the first of its kind in California. It will raise the clearance over the channel from 155 feet to 205 feet, allowing the world’s largest ships to enter the Port’s inner harbor. And with three lanes in each direction plus inner and outer safety lanes, it will be wider and better able to serve future traffic volumes. Other features of the new bridge include a bike path, a pedestrian path and scenic observation decks.
The replacement project will allow the Gerald Desmond Bridge to remain in use while the new bridge is erected adjacent to and just north of it. The new bridge is among $4.5 billion in current and planned improvements to further modernize the Port of Long Beach and keep it competitive. Work on the new bridge will generate, on average, 3,000 jobs a year during construction.
This project is a joint effort of the California Department of Transportation and the Port of Long Beach with funding also from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
A joint venture team of Shimmick Construction Co. Inc., FCC Construction S.A. and Impregilo S.p.A. (SFI) is the prime contractor for the design and construction of the replacement bridge.