Crime & Safety

Ocean Boulevard Closes for Desmond Bridge Replacement

The closure will be from Pico Avenue to Golden Shore Avenue and may last as long as three years.

To accommodate continuing work to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge, a stretch of eastbound Ocean Boulevard from roughly Pico Avenue to Golden Shore Avenue will close on Wednesday and remain blocked for as long as three years.

Eastbound motorists heading toward downtown Long Beach on Ocean will be diverted onto Pico Avenue, through a pair of signalized intersections and onto a newly striped two-lane on-ramp that will return them to eastbound Ocean.

Westbound traffic will not be affected.

Find out what's happening in Belmont Shore-Naplesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The new bridge will be higher to allow clearance of larger, modern cargo ships. It will have six lanesof traffic, four emergency shoulders and a bicycle and pedestrian path. It is scheduled for completion in 2018.

The bridge is being built alongside the existing Gerald Desmond Bridge, allowing it to remain in use during the construction.

Find out what's happening in Belmont Shore-Naplesfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock

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