Route 66 Gets Its First Hospital Bridge in Los Angeles
On Oct. 26, the two sides of Children's Hospital Los Angeles' main campus will be connected. And once complete in the coming months, the long-awaited bridge will be the first of its kind to span across famous Sunset Boulevard.
“We’re the first hospital in Los Angeles with a bridge across Route 66,” said Associate Vice President Elizabeth Cochran, who oversees Construction, Design and Facilities at the hospital. “It was truly a herculean effort with a lot of people involved to make this happen. We’re not only ahead of schedule, but now our patients, families and staff will soon have a safer way to cross the street.”
Fun Fact: The Bridge and Endeavour Space Shuttle Connection
Both ZGF Architects and Traffic Management, Inc. – groups that helped move the space shuttle Endeavour to the California Science Center—will be part of the carefully orchestrated overnight operation, scheduled to be complete by the morning of Oct. 27. The architecture firm not only built the bridge, but also constructed the building that will house the shuttle.
Important Dates and Times for Oct. 26 and 27
The week of the move, the transport team will prep the 80,000-pound steel structure where it's currently located in the old Ford dealership parking lot. The plan is to transport the structure by truck, first heading south on Hillhurst Avenue from the parking lot. Then the truck driver will hang a right onto Sunset Boulevard, Cochran explained, where it will inch along to its home between the McAlister Building and the parking garage on the north side of Sunset.
With traffic re-routed, the move will begin at 9 p.m. on the night of the 26th and end by 10 a.m. the 27th. As the truck makes its way to its destination, portions of the roadway will reopen. The schedule for now is as follows:
9 – 10 p.m.: Roadways will be closed after bridge is secured for travel. Crews will begin to stage a 300-ton crane and counterweight trucks along Sunset.
10-11 p.m.: All access from Hillhurst Avenue, Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards, Lyman Place, Rodney Drive and Vermont Avenue will be shut down. Emergency vehicles will use alternate routes. Bridge will be transported down Hillhurst and turn onto Sunset. Once the bridge clears the intersection, the roadway at Hollywood Boulevard, Hillhurst Avenue, Virgil Avenue and Sunset Boulevard will reopen.
11 p.m. – 12 a.m.: Bridge will continue down Sunset Boulevard (estimated to be in front of Vons making its way to Rodney Drive.) Once it passes, Rodney Drive and the Children's Hospital Los Angeles main entrance will reopen. A left hand turn will be permitted from Rodney onto Sunset.
12 – 3 a.m.: Crane will lift and move the bridge into place.
3 - 7 a.m.: Bridge will be welded and bolted in place.
7 – 10 a.m.: Construction equipment cleared. Traffic will reopen.
The construction, expected to be complete in 2013, was announced last year. Two members of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Board of Trustees, Cheryl Saban, PhD, and Marion Anderson, along with their husbands Haim Saban and John E. Anderson, stepped forward to jointly fund construction of a much-needed bridge over Sunset Boulevard in front of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
“This bridge will not only be a walkway protecting our staff and families; it will be a clear statement to everyone driving down Sunset that they are literally driving through the best children’s hospital on the West Coast,” said Richard D. Cordova, FACHE, president and CEO of Children’s Hospital. “Were it not for the support of the Sabans and the Andersons, this project would not have become a reality.”
