LA City to invest thousands of dollars to repair, maintain 6th Street viaduct

The city of Los Angeles said Thursday it may invest hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next few months to maintain the new 6th Street Viaduct bridge.

It's the city's response to make it safer and keep the bridge open to traffic after police shut it down for three consecutive days when it became the new hotspot for illegal street takeovers and other dangerous stunts.

A potentially new expensive task to keep the new bridge open but critics claim the city should've put in better safety measures when the bridge was being built.

Wes Leslie told CBSLA Reporter Jasmine Viel on Thursday he arrived to the bridge with plans to bike across it, but only if it feels safe enough to do so.

"I wish it was a more protected lane but I am looking forward to biking across it," Leslie said.

Viel took a drive across the $588 million viaduct Thursday and spotted work crews fixing some of the fencing next to the towering arches.

Police officers and crews have been consistently spotted on the bridge recently due to the dangerous behavior and stunts that have overshadowed the city's newest landmark.

As a result, yellow circular raised pavement markers were placed along the center of the bridge to prevent drivers from doing donuts and burnouts.

While Viel didn't see any crews removing graffiti, she was told that since the opening of the bridge, crews have spent an average of 21 hours each day cleaning up the markings.

The LA City Council's Public Works Committee recommended that the council approve more than $700 thousand for the next 12 months to continue removing graffiti on the bridge.

More than $376 thousand of that budget will go to paying employees, as well as covering equipment costs, supplies and administrative things.

The bridge is in City Councilman Kevin De Leon's district, and his office said it doesn't expect to use all of the $700 thousand but about half of it over the next three months. De Leon's office said it also plans to install rumble strips and security cameras.