Shoemaker Bridge project wins funding as part of larger 710 Freeway corridor plan

Regional transportation officials unanimously approved a vast, $4 billion plan to improve the 710 Freeway corridor, including funding for a significant local project to replace the Shoemaker Bridge.

The unanimous LA Metro board vote included $9.3 million to partially fund the design of the new bridge, which is part of plans to realign the west end of Shoreline Drive and significantly change how drivers enter and exit the 710 Freeway at its Downtown terminus.

City officials hope the new bridge — estimated to cost nearly $900 million — will be completed before the 2028 Olympics.

Metro officials noted in their analysis of the project that it will also improve access to park space, as the realignment would move northbound lanes to Shoreline Drive’s current southbound lanes, freeing up a 5.6-acre parcel of green space west of Cesar E. Chavez Park that has been unusable for decades.

The city has so far secured $30 million of the $60 million cost just for the realignment part of the project.

Several members of the City Council and mayor’s office spoke in favor of the overall project considered by Metro, which came about after plans to widen the 710 Freeway were shelved in 2022 when federal officials determined it would inflict more harm on communities than benefit.

The Long Beach-East LA Corridor Mobility Investment Plan spans 18 cities along 19 miles from Long Beach to East Los Angeles.

The plan aims to improve infrastructure on and around the 710 Freeway, which has been worn by thousands of daily truck trips over the past six decades.

The communities surrounding the corridor — nicknamed the “diesel death zone” — are some of the poorest in the county and incur significant pollution, with high rates of respiratory and other illness that are compounded by long-standing disparities in health care access.

For the last three years, a task force of Metro officials, community members and advocates has been working to formulate the plan and identify priorities.

The first round of funded projects approved April 25 includes $743 million from county tax measures R and M that officials hope to leverage for another $3.3 billion in state and federal funds.

In addition to the Shoemaker Bridge project, Long Beach will also see improvements to the 710 interchanges with Atlantic and Long Beach boulevards, Pacific Coast Highway, Wardlow Road and Anaheim Street.

The post Shoemaker Bridge project wins funding as part of larger 710 Freeway corridor plan appeared first on Long Beach Post .