Vincent Thomas Bridge closes for 16 months on Saturday. Here’s what you need to know

For the next 16 months, motorists will have to seek alternative routes to the Vincent Thomas Bridge, which is slated to close for construction.

The emerald green bridge is a major thoroughfare connecting San Pedro to Terminal Island, home to both the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach.

The closure, which begins Saturday, has been years in the making and included impact-mitigation meetings among California Department of Transportation officials, neighboring communities, shipping companies, labor unions and the contractor.

Officials said lane closures leading up to the shutdown would begin late Friday.

Here’s what you need to know about navigating the shutdown.

Why Vincent Thomas Bridge is closing

The Vincent Thomas Bridge opened in 1963.

The bridge runs along State Route 47 between Interstate 110 and Terminal Island. The island connects on its east end to Long Beach via the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge.

It is structurally sound, but the bridge deck is deteriorating rapidly, according to Caltrans officials.

The deterioration “is due to concrete fatigue caused by heavy traffic loading, as well as environmental deterioration due to age and the marine environment,” according to the Caltrans project website.

Officials plan to rehabilitate the bridge by replacing the entire deck and its seismic sensors. The project also includes replacing the bridge railings, fences and median barrier.

Breakdown of bridge closure

Ramp and lane closures are scheduled to begin Friday ahead of the complete shutdown at midnight.

Motorists can expect the following work schedule on Friday night:

• 10 p.m., all southbound lanes on State Route 47 between Navy Way and Ferry Street will be temporarily closed.
• 10:45 p.m., all southbound travel lanes between Ferry Street and Harbor Boulevard will close. The closure includes the Ferry Street onramp to southbound State Route 47.

At midnight on Saturday, all lanes on State Route 47 on the Vincent Thomas Bridge between Ferry Street and Harbor Boulevard will close. The closure includes northbound lanes on State Route 47 approaching Harbor Boulevard, southbound Interstate 110, and Miraflores Avenue.

When can I expect the bridge to reopen to motorists

The bridge officially closes to all traffic Saturday and is anticipated to reopen in March 2028.

How you can get around the bridge

During the closure, Caltrans said traffic control officers will be deployed to 18 key intersections in the area to monitor and manually facilitate traffic flow, and local police will expand commercial traffic enforcement.

Motorists will be detoured primarily along Interstates 710 and 110, State Route 103 and Harry Bridges Boulevard.

The detour route will take traffic to and from Terminal Island along Front Street and John S. Gibson Boulevard in San Pedro and along Harry Bridges Boulevard and Henry Ford Avenue in Wilmington.

Caltrans conducted local road improvements on the project’s detour routes, including the resurfacing and striping of roads and intersections, installing traffic cameras and placing temporary traffic signals.

Staff writer Caroline Petrow-Cohen contributed to this report.