Historic California Incline Reopens In Santa Monica

SANTA MONICA (CBSLA.com) — The California Incline reopened Thursday with a daylong party celebrating the iconic landmark's rebirth in Santa Monica.

A Santa Monica Big Blue Bus drove through a banner at 9 a.m. to celebrate the incline's return.

Officials said the celebration would be cleared by 5 p.m. in order for vehicles to use the incline.

The new bridge sits on 96 deep concrete piles, and the dirt cliffs have been stabilized with more than 1,000 "soil nails," according to the city.

The old footbridge has been replaced by a concrete spiral.

The original three-lane bridge was built in 1929 and was closed in April 2015 for demolition and reconstruction.

It was supposed to reopen in late May, but city officials pushed that back to reconstruct a pedestrian overpass above the incline itself.

The bridge traversed from the beach to the top of the palisades in northern Santa Monica, linking downtown with the Pacific Coast Highway.

The $17 million project was funded by the federal government.

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