Federal, state, city and port officials celebrated the groundbreaking Tuesday of a $1 billion project to replace the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge, considered the biggest bridge project in Southern California.
Built in 1968, the Gerald Desmond Bridge links Terminal Island and the Long Beach (710) Freeway for the nation’s trade system, with nearly 15 percent of the nation’s waterborne cargo traveling on it.
Meanwhile, there has been talk of giving the new bridge a different name, with an effort afoot to name it after former Long Beach Mayor Beverly O’Neill.