Historic First Street Bridge Reopens, Commuters Rejoice

First Street Bridge during June 2011 construction. Photo by cinaferoholbeck via the LAist Featured Photos pool.

After about four years of closure, the historic First Street Bridge has finally reopened as of last Thursday. Los Angeles city officials will gather on the viaduct in celebration Tuesday morning.

Closed to accommodate the construction of the Metro Gold Line extension to East L.A., the 82-year-old bridge is one of the L.A. River spans linking Boyle Heights to downtown L.A. City News Service says "the re-opening of the bridge will eliminate a significant detour for the thousands of motorists who make the trip from Boyle Heights to downtown each day."

The project's original completion date was May 2010, but unforeseen issues arose during construction. The Eastsider LA describes the project's history below.

Portions of the 82-year-old bridge have been closed to traffic since 2007 to allow the bridge to be widened by 26-feet to accommodate the Metro Gold Line tracks that run down the middle of the structure. While the Gold Line trains started running across the bridge in 2008, work on widening the span ran into unexpected trouble and delays, ranging from the unexpected discovery of large boulders and unknown utility lines that complicated foundation construction to restricted work hours near a Metro rail yard. Officials had estimated last year that cost overruns could reach as high as $12 million.