ethereal_reality, I really enjoyed your series of banner photos.
Question: Do you know the significance of these banners?
They have the same basic shape and a lot of similar colors, and they appear in several of the pictures, but what the heck to they stand for? Are they just colorful banners?
By the way, I have a little before and after of your Fourth Street viaduct photo:
usc photo archives
Google Street View
Actually, things look pretty much the same, taking into account the passage of so many years. Gone are the trolley tracks and wires...and the banners. New additions include a massive tower full of power lines and the reversible lane system, put in maybe ten years ago. The reversible lane was a good idea. The center lane is one-way into town in the morning and one-way out in the evening. The rest of the day, the center lane is a "dead" lane, used for left turns only. Unfortunately, this system was never fully explained to the public. At least once a week, you would go sailing across the bridge only to encounter someone sitting in oncoming traffic, waiting to make a left turn (a real no-no when the reversible lanes were on). I wonder if anyone has been seriously injured? It was real close for me a time or two.