Proposed replacement span awarded county priority and funds

The Port of Long Beach’s proposed replacement of the Gerald Desmond Bridge has earned a top ranking among planned improvements to highways, roads and railways from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro).As part of being ranked the No. 1 “Regional Surface Transportation Improvement” by Metro, the bridge replacement project was recently approved for $11.3 million in Los Angeles County’s highly competitive transportation funding process.The Port of Long Beach is proposing to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge at the cost of $1.1 billion. Approximately 15 percent of all U.S. waterborne freight containers enter or leave the country over the bridge. In addition to serving cargo-hauling trucks in the port complex, the span provides a crucial link for commuters traveling between points in Los Angeles and Orange counties, as well as between Long Beach and San Pedro.The proposed project is also named as “Project of National and Regional Significance” in the federal 2005 SAFETEA-LU highway funding bill passed by Congress. It was also recently named one of the most critical transportation projects to improve mobility throughout Southern California by Mobility 21, an influential transportation coalition.The new bridge would have three vehicle lanes in each direction plus shoulders on both sides to reduce traffic delays and safety hazards from accidents and breakdowns.The Port has identified about $700 million of the bridge replacement project’s cost, and plans to release the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the project later this year.