The 6th Street Viaduct, spanning Los Angeles’ historic Boyle Heights on the east and the downtown Arts District on the west, is not just another bridge.
The structure, which opened in July 2022 as a replacement for the span that was built in 1932, won a national award in 2023 as the year’s most outstanding engineering achievement. It features 10 pairs of sculptural 30-and 60-foot concrete arches that can be illuminated with multiple colors.
But the iconic, Instagram-worthy site also enjoyed by pedestrians, bicyclists and roller skaters has been treated rudely. Initially, police had to chase off motorists who would take over the bridge to perform illegal maneuvers.
And now, the source of civic pride has suffered another indignity: Thieves have stolen the valuable electrical copper wiring from parts of the “Ribbon of Light,” apparently to sell it as forgettable scrap, plummeting parts of the bridge into darkness.
“I’m angry and disappointed that anyone would sabotage such a beautiful and unique community space, likely out of personal greed,” said photographer Scott Lanway, who has posted pictures of the bridge online. “Since it opened in the summer of 2022, the 6th Street Viaduct has become not just a way for Angelenos to reach their destinations but a destination in itself, and this theft in a way has stolen that space from all of us.”
An indignant Los Angeles Police Protective League weighed in with a social media post: “The Grinch stole all the Christmas lights in Whoville. In LA, our Grinch stole the copper wire off the 6th Street Bridge — turning out its decorative lights — and causing excessive damage in the process.”
Brenda Martinez, vice president of the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council, which acts as a liaison between the community and the city, said her group met on Wednesday to discuss the vandalism and sent photos of the damage to the office of City Councilman Kevin de León, whose District 14 includes the 3,500-foot-long bridge, the longest in the city.
“That is definitely a shock in the sense that I thought we were going to have more respect because it’s new and it’s a big thing right now,” Martinez said Friday. “The majority of the people in Boyle Heights love the bridge, the fact that they have the lights.”
She said the council hopes that the lights will be repaired soon and that deterrents, possibly in the form of protection for the electrical boxes or extra patrols, will be added.
De León was walking the bridge about three weeks ago when he noticed that some of the boxes were open and wires were sticking out, his spokesman, Pete Brown, said Friday, Dec. 22.
De León immediately convened a meeting — on a Saturday — with the general manager of the Bureau of Street Lighting, Brown said.
“He’s very angry over the idea that individuals or an organized group would steal from the public and do it in a way that endangers public safety and takes away from the experience for Angelenos that enjoy this beautiful, iconic symbol of what it is to live in LA,” Brown said.
The Bureau of Street Lighting, Bureau of Engineers and the Los Angeles Police Department are working with the councilman’s office to repair the damage, prevent future thefts and hold the perpetrators accountable, Brown said.
The Grinch stole all the Christmas lights in Whoville. In LA, our Grinch stole the copper wire off the 6th street bridge—turning out its decorative lights—and causing excessive damage in the process. Investigation is ongoing to determine the suspects and various departments are… pic.twitter.com/CNusjwDMpD
— Los Angeles Police Protective League (@LAPPL) December 22, 2023
Zach Seidl, a spokesman for Mayor Karen Bass, said Friday evening that LAPD has increased patrols in the area. And officials at L.A.’s Department of Public Works said they are working to fix the lights.
Public Works “has become acutely aware of the issue of copper wire theft on the 6th Street Bridge,” Lashawn McFadden, a spokeswoman for the department, said in a written statement. “This is serious and has a significant impact on public safety, infrastructure reliability, and the community at large.”
McFadden said the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting maintains the lights on the bridge, and that the bureau has been working with other city agencies to “develop a long-term solution to protect the lights.”
The problem of thefts of copper wiring from utility boxes has been a problem across the country for years.
I wanted to be the first person to rollerskate on the 6th Street Viaduct. #MissionAccomplished pic.twitter.com/rQWRKbsADk
— Claudia Peschiutta (@ReporterClaudia) July 9, 2022
Since its opening last year, the 6th Street bridge has not only ferried thousands of motorists every day, but it has also seen its share of celebrations, stunts and even tragedy.
The bridge brought out thousands of locals to celebrate its grand opening in July 2022 after about six years of construction.
In the weeks that followed, there were a few instances of wild revelry: Street takeovers featuring burnouts, people climbing on the loops and skateboarders riding them like ramps, and a barber cutting a client’s hair in the middle of traffic.
“The street takeovers were an immediate reaction to the grand opening and everybody tried to have a little piece, their 15 seconds of social media fame. That came and went,” said Brown, the councilman’s spokesman. “We made some additions to the bridge, 4- to 8-inch raised reflectors to prevent the spinouts.”
People repeatedly have been spotted climbing the bridge’s arches. In May, a 17-year-old died attempting to scale part of the bridge fell to his death after he slipped, police said.
