Six months after a pair of traffic collisions injured SpaceX workers in a crosswalk from the company’s headquarters to its parking garage, a prefabricated pedestrian bridge has been installed linking the two structures.
Siding and railing will be added to the bridge skeleton over the next few weeks. It was lifted into place over the weekend by two cranes, roughly three stories above Crenshaw Boulevard.
In the meantime, crossing guards will continue to halt traffic for pedestrians in the industrial section of town all day and night.
Thousands of workers staff the rocket manufacturing facility around-the-clock. Other adjacent businesses include Tesla’s design studio, Hawthorne Municipal Airport, Lowe’s Home Improvement and the Century Business Center.
“The bridge will connect SpaceX’s office building to its parking structure, also alleviating foot traffic and car stoppage at the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and Rocket Road,” SpaceX officials said, in a written statement.
Three women were injured by a speeding car whose driver didn’t even slow down after striking them in the crosswalk on Dec. 17, according to police. The women were approaching the parking garage at 2:16 a.m. when a Toyota Camry-like car ran a red light and mowed them down in the Crenshaw Boulevard crosswalk. They only sustained minor injuries.
Vehicles routinely speed through the area and run the red light at the intersection, according to officials.
On Jan. 26, a driver ran a red light there and hit a pedestrian.
Earlier crashes occurred when a driver ran a red light in January 2015, and when a vehicle attempted a U-turn and went onto the sidewalk, hitting someone, in March 2013. In all cases, the victims were either not hurt or sustained only minor injuries, according to police reports.
