LOS ANGELES – Traffic was flowing again Tuesday over the new Sixth Street bridge between the Arts District and Boyle Heights after another street takeover that left the pavement scarred with skid marks, led to a crash involving at least three vehicles and forced police to close the span.
Video from the scene posted on YouTube and other social media channels showed the crash that occurred as a driver was performing a burnout on the recently opened pavement around 11 p.m. Monday. Other drivers were spotted doing doughnuts and burnouts on the span as well.
It was at least the second takeover on the viaduct, which opened to traffic July 10 after years of construction.
There were no reports of any injuries, however, the driver of one car involved in Monday night’s crash fled the area on foot, abandoning the damaged Dodge Charger. No arrests were immediately reported, but police closed the bridge following the crash.
“It is the way things go, there’s positive uses and negative uses and everything in between. I think it’s just the fabric of the city,” Cameron Mayer, a visitor, told NBC4.
One person told KCAL9, “This is why we can’t have nice things.”
Over the weekend, video surfaced on social media showing drivers spinning their wheels and performing stunts on the bridge, also leaving the pavement scarred. Some people even crawled onto the ribbon-like arches that line the bridge so they could get elevated views of the action.
The $588 million Sixth Street Viaduct was reopened July 10 after a construction project that began in 2016, replacing the original 1932-vintage structure. The original bridge was an iconic landmark in the city, seen in movies including “Grease” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” but its aging structure was deteriorating, leaving it seismically unsound.