The Vincent Thomas Bridge is a 1,500-foot (460 m) long suspension bridge crossing the Los Angeles Harbor in the U.S. state of California, linking San Pedro, Los Angeles, with Terminal Island. The bridge is signed as part of State Route 47. It is named for California Assemblyman Vincent Thomas of San Pedro.
History and description
Eastbound view while driving along the span
Throughout the bridge's construction and in the early years after its opening, it was derided as a "bridge to nowhere." In the 1970s, however, its importance drastically increased as the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach displaced those of the San Francisco Bay Area as the principal port on the West Coast. Today, the Vincent Thomas Bridge carries a considerable volume of truck traffic from the southernmost slips of the Port of Los Angeles, in San Pedro, onto the Terminal Island Freeway and eventually to the southern end of the Long Beach Freeway; from there, freight goes from the port complex to the rail yards of East Los Angeles and the Inland Empire.
When the bridge opened in 1963, the toll was 25 cents in each direction. In 1983, the toll increased to 50 cents for westbound traffic but became free for eastbound traffic. By 2000, the Vincent Thomas Bridge was one of only two toll bridges remaining in Southern California (the other being the San Diego-Coronado Bridge in San Diego), during which year tolls on the Vincent Thomas Bridge were removed completely. After the San Diego-Coronado Bridge stopped collecting tolls in 2002, the California Department of Transportation was able to devolve authority over toll bridges to the Bay Area Toll Authority in June 2005.
On October 26, 1990, 1964 Olympic diving bronze medalist Larry Andreasen was killed jumping from the west tower of the bridge in an attempt to set a record.[1]
The Catalina Terminal (Berth 95), the location for all of San Pedro's departing ferries and helicopters to Santa Catalina Island, is located underneath the western part of the bridge.
In popular culture
The bridge is featured in the climax of the movie Gone in Sixty Seconds, starring Nicolas Cage, and in a scene of the 2000 movie Charlie's Angels where Cameron Diaz and Crispin Glover face off in two racecars.
The bridge is also featured in the classic episode of CHiPs titled "Taking Its Toll". The bridge is also seen in a scene in National Security .
The film To Live and Die in L.A., released in 1985, makes extensive use of the bridge. Early in the film, Richard Chance (William Petersen), on a bet (and for the thrill of it), makes a jump off the bridge using a safety line. Throughout the film the bridge can be seen in the background from the house of Chance's girlfriend/informant Ruth Lanier (Darlanne Fluegel). During the end credits, a continuous shot shows the bridge being crossed in the eastbound direction.
The bridge was sometimes visible in opening scenes of the television show The Love Boat, as Princess Lines' Los Angeles passenger terminal was (and still is) located near the bridge.
The bridge can also be seen in the U.S. TV series Trapper John, MD - a spin-off from M*A*S*H (starring Gregory Harrison and Pernell Roberts - of Bonanza fame.) The show was set in San Francisco, but the hospital used for exterior shots of the fictitious San Francisco Memorial Hospital was the "Little Company of Mary Hospital" situated high upon 7th Street in San Pedro, CA, from which commanding views of the Vincent Thomas Bridge are available. The bridge features in some shots as probably a "faux Golden Gate Bridge" despite the obvious differences in size, shape and colour, and not many viewers were fooled by it.
Photos
Vincent Thomas Bridge and the Port of Los Angeles
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References
External links
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