经过多年的规划，加利福尼亚州的交通部门计划于11月7日关闭文森特·托马斯大桥（Vincent Thomas Bridge），以便更换其桥面。该桥将在整个施工期间（16个月内）完全封闭，禁止所有车辆通行。当地居民对由此可能导致的交通拥堵、噪音污染以及洛杉矶港（Port of Los Angeles）和长滩港（Port of Long Beach）运营中断表示担忧。
After years of planning, California transportation officials are preparing to shut down the Vincent Thomas Bridge on Nov. 7 to replace its deck. The bridge will be closed to all traffic for 16 months. Locals aren't looking forward to increased traffic congestion, noise and air pollution, and disruptions to operations at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
加州交通局（Caltrans）表示，更换桥面是必要的，这有助于维护桥梁的结构完整性，并提高维护人员、卡车司机以及过往乘客的安全性。文森特·托马斯大桥是连接圣佩德罗（San Pedro）与终端岛（Terminal Island）的重要交通要道，而这两个港口就位于终端岛上。该桥建于1963年，全长略超过一英里。
Caltrans said the deck replacement is necessary to preserve the structural integrity of the bridge and improve safety for maintenance workers, truck drivers and the traveling public. The Vincent Thomas Bridge is a key artery connecting San Pedro to Terminal Island, where the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach are located. It opened in 1963 and spans just over one mile.
“这座桥的意义不仅仅在于方便在港口区域工作的员工通行，”圣佩德罗商会会长埃莉丝·斯旺森（Elise Swanson）在去年的一次采访中表示，“它更是我们社区之间进行艺术交流、文化交流和餐饮活动的纽带。”该桥位于47号州道（State Route 47）上，介于110号州际公路（Interstate 110）与终端岛之间；终端岛的东端通过长滩国际门户大桥（Long Beach International Gateway Bridge）与长滩相连。
“It’s not only for employees going back and forth through the port complex,” Elise Swanson, president of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview last year. “The bridge is really a connection to our communities for art, culture, dining.”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.
加州交通局已举办了100多场公众会议和利益相关者座谈会，向周边社区通报施工计划，并制定了相应的交通绕行方案。目前，绕行路线上的道路设施已经完成改造；在桥梁完全封闭期间，交通管理部门将在18个关键路口安排交通管制人员。绕行路线要求车辆通过圣佩德罗的弗龙特街（Front Street）和约翰·S·吉布森大道（John S. Gibson Boulevard），以及威尔明顿（Wilmington）的哈里·布里奇斯大道（Harry Bridges Boulevard）和亨利·福特大道（Henry Ford Avenue）进行通行。
Caltrans said it held more than 100 public and stakeholder meetings to prepare surrounding communities for construction, including developing the traffic detour route. Officials have completed road improvements along the detour route and will deploy traffic control officers at 18 key intersections during the bridge's full closure. 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.
此外，该绕行路线还利用了州内的其他高速公路网络（包括110号州际公路和710号州际公路）。不过，一些社区居民担心，桥梁关闭后，原本不在绕行路线范围内的居民区可能会面临更严重的交通压力。
The route also utilizes the state highway system, including Interstate 110 and Interstate 710. Community members are concerned the closure will increase traffic in residential areas not along the designated detour routes.
虽然相关部门鼓励车辆走官方指定的绕行路线，但加州交通局也承认，司机们往往会选择最便捷的路径前往目的地。周三举行的一场线上意见征求会上，一位社区居民问道：“针对那些非官方绕行路线上日益增多的车流，你们采取了哪些应对措施？”加州交通局表示，他们已将道路封闭及指定绕行路线信息通知了谷歌地图和苹果地图。
Although vehicles will be encouraged to use the official route, Caltrans acknowledged that drivers will take the path of least resistance to their destination. "What is being done to address increased traffic that will flow on unofficial detour routes,?" asked one community member during a virtual open house on Wednesday. Caltrans said it has notified Google Maps and Apple Maps about the closure and the designated detour route.
加州交通局第七区交通项目办公室主任西乌·梅·谭说道：“我们正在与各大导航服务商合作，力求引导车辆避开居民区街道，转而使用指定的绕行路线以及州级公路。”她还补充道：“我们深知居民们对车辆涌入社区街道一事忧心忡忡。”此外，加州交通局正与洛杉矶联合学区合作，为当地学校配备空气净化器。符合条件的居民也将获得空气净化器，以减轻柴油车及大型施工设备带来的空气污染。
"We are engaging with navigation providers with the goal of trying to direct people away from neighborhood streets to use the designated detour routes and also the state highway system," said Siew Mei Tan, chief of Caltrans’ District 7 Office of Mobility Programs. "We understand that there are a lot of concerns about traffic cutting through streets in the neighborhood." Caltrans is also working with the Los Angeles Unified School District to distribute air filters to schools in the area. Qualifying residents will also receive air filters to mitigate pollution from diesel and heavy construction equipment.
加州交通局新闻官内森·巴斯在意见征求会上指出：“由于该工程的实施，车辆怠速情况将更为频繁，由此引发的空气污染及对社区的影响也可能随之增加。”另有居民在会上对大桥的结构安全性表示担忧。一位与会者说道：“我非常担心固定大桥结构及钢索的各部件出现腐蚀现象，尤其是生锈问题。”对此，加州交通局回应称，多项检测结果均表明该桥目前可安全通行。
"Traffic will be idling more frequently, and there may be increased air pollution and impacts in the community because of traffic related to this project," Nathan Bass, a Caltrans public information officer, said at the open house. Other residents voiced concerns at the open house about the bridge's structural integrity. "I'm very concerned about the possible corrosion, specifically rust, of all the hardware that holds the bridge together and that attaches the cables," one participant said. Caltrans said several investigations concluded the bridge is safe for travelers.
此次桥面更换工程实属必要：一方面，过往车辆载重不断增加；另一方面，含盐空气也加速了桥梁材料的老化。此前，洛杉矶港执行主任吉恩·塞罗卡曾建议加州交通局在现有施工计划中考虑提高大桥高度。
The deck replacement is necessary because traffic loads on the span have become increasingly heavy, and salt air has eroded bridge materials. Gene Seroka, executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, previously asked Caltrans to consider raising the bridge's height as part of its existing construction plans.
塞罗卡表示，提升桥梁将使更大、更高效的货船能够进入港口的容量。官员们去年12月拒绝了这一请求，称桥面更换必须尽快开始，且无法容纳额外的桥梁提升规划。加州交通局表示，该桥可能在2028年初重新开放通行，施工工作将在重新开放后继续进行，直至2029年初。
Seroka said raising the bridge would allow larger, more efficient cargo ships to access capacity at the port. Officials rejected that request last December, saying the deck replacement had to begin as soon as possible and it could not accommodate additional planning to raise the bridge. The bridge will probably reopen to traffic in early 2028, Caltrans said, and construction work will continue after it reopens until early 2029.