$588 Million New Bridge in Los Angeles Repeatedly Shut Down Due to 'Street Takeover' and Social Media Stunts

Los Angeles just recently completed one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the city's history, a new $588 million bridge called the 6th Street Viaduct.

The massive project was supposed to connect neighborhoods on the east side of the city with the rapidly growing Arts District in Downtown LA.

Hailed as win for community engagement, the bridge took six years to complete and runs for more than a half mile, covering railroad tracks and a freeway, while providing an architectural focal point in a generally run down part of town.

Los Angeles, CA - July 08: After more than six years of construction, Los Angeles officials light the 20 arches dubbed the Ribbon of Light" on the new 6th Street Viaduct during a ceremony at dusk that begins a three-day community celebration to mark its completion, connecting Boyle Heights and the downtown Arts District and replaces one of the citys structural landmarks. Photo taken 6th Street Viaduct, Los Angeles, CA on Friday, July 8, 2022. The four-lane bridge will connect Boyle Heights and the Arts District across a 3,060 foot-breadth that spans the Los Angeles River, 101 Freeway, railroad tracks and Metrolink tracks. Dubbed the Ribbon of Light, the $588-million project is considered the most extensive bridge project in the citys history and took six years to complete, with delays due to COVID-19. The event featured a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony at which city officials held a news briefing from L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, Councilman De León and city engineer Gary Lee Moore. The new viaduct's "Ribbon of Light" design, with its 20 arches, was created by the architectural firm HNTB Corp. and Los Angeles-based architect Michael Maltzan. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Except, of course, because it's Los Angeles, it's already been completely overrun with issues and been a constant source of problems for LAPD.

A new report details some of the recurring problems and shutdowns the bridge has dealt with in only a few weeks of usage.

Just a few days ago, the bridge reopened after it was closed to traffic due to "illegal parking" and "people scaling its arches."

That was only a few days after it was closed for several hours due to a crash that occurred when a pickup truck stopped in a no-parking zone.

Shortly after that incident, over 200 people showed up unexpectedly for a "street takeover, fireworks and vandalism" according to the LAPD Central Department.

Then there was more illegal climbing, which caused massive traffic backups on July 24th.

The report says that LAPD has issued 57 citations and impounded six vehicles over just a four day span, which is remarkable considering how many incidents have likely gone unnoticed by police.

Instead of being a city centerpiece, Police Chief Michael Moore said the bridge has become a location where people come to "try to find their 15 minutes of fame" on social media.

The influencer crowd has already made it one of their preferred spots:

It's a perfect example of the general lawlessness that's taken over major cities, especially places like Los Angeles and New York City.

Looting, vandalism and reckless behavior has become commonplace and tolerated, with lax prosecutions by woke DA's.

While most of this behavior doesn't rise to the level of widespread rioting and looting seen during summer 2020, the lack of enforcement surely has emboldened people to engage in inappropriate actions, knowing there won't be any significant punishment.

This is almost certainly going to be an indefinite problem, with city officials who are more concerned with "equity" and defunding the police than maintaining law and order.

It's no wonder that the region lost 176,000 people from 2020-2021, the second largest numerical drop for any metro area in the country. The bridge is just the latest symptom of the systemic rot at the core of LA's incompetent governance.

A spokesman for LAPD said they "shut it down if any unruly behavior or lawlessness happens." Seems like that's going to become a full time job for them.