Mayor Garcetti Records Slow Jam-Style PSA For Sixth Street Bridge Closure

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — City officials are letting Los Angeles drivers know about the upcoming "101 SlowJam" with...a slow jam.

Mayor Eric Garcetti, along with students from Roosevelt High School's jazz band in front of the iconic Sixth Street Bridge, recorded a "music video" style public service announcement, reminiscent of veteran L.A. deejay's Art LaBoe's nighttime slow jam radio show.

"See we're bringing down the Sixth Street Bridge, makin' way for something new, and the demolition will cause delays," Garcetti says smoothly as a student sings behind him. "Sometimes, just sometimes, you have to get your hands dirty to build something beautiful."

Demolition begins this weekend on the Sixth Street viaduct, forcing drivers to take detours around a 2.5-mile stretch of the Hollywood (101) Freeway that will be closed for 40 hours near Boyle Heights and downtown Los Angeles, starting Friday night.

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A 220-foot section of the deteriorating 84-year-old bridge over the freeway will be removed during the closure, which will stretch from the Santa Monica (10) Freeway split to the interchange of the Golden State (5), 10 and 101 freeways south of downtown Los Angeles.

City officials have named the closure the 101 SlowJam, which begins at 10 p.m. Friday and ends at 2 p.m. Sunday. An average of about 126,000 cars are expected to be diverted per day, according to Caltrans.

Closures also will affect northbound onramps at Sixth Street/Whittier Boulevard, Euclid Street and Soto Street; and the southbound onramps at Los Angeles, Commercial, Mission and Fourth streets.

The Sixth Street Viaduct will be replaced by a $449 million bridge following a nine-month-long demolition.

The viaduct itself was closed to traffic in January. Construction is expected to last until 2019.

Traffic detours will be as follows:

When traveling N/B 5 from the Orange County area approaching the 5/10/101 Interchange:
Exit to N/B 101 closed
-Exit to W/B 10 open
-Exit to N/B 5 open
Primary Detour: N/B 710 to W/B 10
Secondary Detour: W/B 10 to N/B 110

When traveling W/B 60 from the Pomona area approaching 5/10/101 Interchange:
-Exit to N/B 101 closed
-Exit to W/B 10 open
-Exit to N/B 5 open
Primary Detour: N/B 710 to W/B 10
Secondary Detour: W/B 10 to N/B 110

When traveling S/B 101 from the San Fernando Valley area approaching the 10/101 Split:
-Exit to S/B 101 closed
-E/B 10 open
Primary Detour: S/B 110 to E/B 10
Secondary Detour: E/B 10 to S/B 710

101 Freeway On-Ramp closures will be as follows:
NB 6th Street/ Whittier Blvd on-ramp CLOSED
NB Euclid Street on-ramp CLOSED
NB Soto Street to 101 Freeway CLOSED
SB Commercial Street on-ramp CLOSED
SB Mission Street on-ramp CLOSED
SB 4th Street on-ramp CLOSED

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