Thursday, April 28, 2011

7th Street Bridge Closure Effects

The initial closing of the 7th Street Bridge caused traffic to back up and emotions to rise.  Last week the 7th Street Bridge closed due to construction and upgrades to it's surrounding freeways.  Students at CSULB had something to say about all this traffic.

The overall sense of the students was that it made them late for class and caught them by suprise.  Some knew the bridge would be closing but others weren't so lucky.  One student said that he was late to a midterm because of the traffic backups around campus. 

According to Elissa Thomas, there were other situations causing the immense traffic.  She stated that not only the construction but a freeway accident and a hostage situation at a local Motel 6 caused the cars to pile up bumper to bumper.  A lot of the streets students normally would take to class either were busy or closed due to those circumstances.  She stated that the police officers were running liscense plate numbers and one that alerted them was a murder suspect.  They followed the car to a Motel 6 and from there the situation esclated into one involving hostages. 

As head of the Rideshare program Elissa Thomas, wanted to get the message of the rideshare programs available at school as well as alternative ways to get to school.  One being the U-Pass systems that is free to students.  "Let the bus driver deal with the traffic," said Thomas.

The closing of the bridge has created numerous problems regarding traffic.  Police officers have been set up around campus in order to monitor and moderate traffic to make sure everything is running smoothly.  If you drive south on Palo Verde Ave. you can see cops sitting on their motorcycles observing traffic.  I happened to speak to one while sitting in the middle of it.  I asked if this was due to the bridge closing and he responded with a yes.  He stated that officers will be here throughout the closure to "kind of" keep things under control.

CSULB Detour, You can visit this link and click on "West County Connectors Construction Project"

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