One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
From The Archives: The Original 6th Street Bridge In 11 Of Its Most Iconic Hollywood Cameos
People drive their cars beneath the iconic 6th Street Bridge that connects downtown Los Angeles with Boyle Heights after its closure to traffic on Jan. 27, 2016. The crumbling Sixth Street Viaduct that has appeared in scores of Hollywood productions was later closed and demolished due to safety concerns after its concrete has become weakened by a rare chemical reaction.
(
Mark Ralston
/
AFP via Getty Images
)
Editor's Note: This story was published in 2016 before the demolition of the original 6th Street Viaduct. We're sharing it again as the city celebrates (with some speed bumps along the way) the opening of its replacement.
A video honors the history of the 6th Street Bridge—now closed and set for demolition—in film.
The video comes from Vashi Nedomansky and takes us through 11 Hollywood films that prominently feature the bridge, including Drive, Grease, To Live and Die in L.A. and Point Blank. Most of these films, of course, show the bridge full of mayhem, car chases, violence and a Skynet T-1000 stealing the identity of a police officer. Perhaps it's fitting then that the farewell party for the bridge got sightly out of hand and resulted in one arrest.
Of course, this is only a handful of times we've seen the bridge on the screen. The bridge has also had a role in TV shows including Bosch, Fear the Walking Dead, St. Elsewhere; video games including L.A. Noire and Grand Theft Auto V; and music videos including INXS' "Afterglow," Kanye West's "Jesus Walks," Usher's "My Way," and Madonna's "Borderline."
The bridge officially closed on January 27, with demolition to begin this month. The planned demolition of the Sixth Street Viaduct will shut down the 101 freeway through Boyle Heights from the night of February 5 to February 7. The crumbling bridge with be replaced something a little more earthquake-safe by 2019.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
