Angeleno Apocalypse: The Coming Carmageddon of L.A.'s Closed 405
To hear Angelenos talk about the news, you'd think we were bracing for the Big One. Or maybe preparing for something worse than the dire stretch of earthquakes, floods, fires and riots that hit us in the 1990s. Celebrities in Los Angeles are tweeting about the calamity; hospitals are up in arms about it; and local news channels are calling it "Car-mageddon." What could cause so much panic? If you live in L.A. and you don't know what I'm referring to, the next sentence may lead to more stress in your life. It's the 53-hour long shutdown of part of the 405 Freeway from July 15 to 17.
A road closure? On a weekend? All this distress over that? Well, it's not just any road. It's the 10-mile stretch of concrete that connects the Westside to the San Fernando Valley. It usually carries half a million people on the weekend, making it one of the busiest sections of one of the most dreaded roadways in L.A., home to the nation's worst traffic.
During the closure, construction crews will demolish the south side of a bridge, which will allow them to widen the freeway and add carpool lanes. They will rebuild the bridge over the next 11 months, and then shut the freeway again to repeat this process with the north side of the bridge. Officials are predicting backups of 32 miles in each direction over the July weekend, and as long as 50 miles under their worst-case scenario. Surface streets in the area, many of which snake up and down windy canyons, will be jammed. "We're hoping that the message that has been put out repeatedly will take root with everyone that drives, and they will stay out of the area," said Kirk Albanese, deputy chief at the Los Angeles Police Department. "But recognizing that that may not occur, we're planning for the very difficult traffic circumstances that we may be faced with."
To hear Angelenos talk about the news, you'd think we were bracing for the Big One. Or maybe preparing for something worse than the dire stretch of earthquakes, floods, fires and riots that hit us in the 1990s. Celebrities in Los Angeles are tweeting about the calamity; hospitals are up in arms about it; and local news channels are calling it "Car-mageddon." What could cause so much panic? If you live in L.A. and you don't know what I'm referring to, the next sentence may lead to more stress in your life. It's the 53-hour long shutdown of part of the 405 Freeway from July 15 to 17.
A road closure? On a weekend? All this distress over that? Well, it's not just any road. It's the 10-mile stretch of concrete that connects the Westside to the San Fernando Valley. It usually carries half a million people on the weekend, making it one of the busiest sections of one of the most dreaded roadways in L.A., home to the nation's worst traffic.
During the closure, construction crews will demolish the south side of a bridge, which will allow them to widen the freeway and add carpool lanes. They will rebuild the bridge over the next 11 months, and then shut the freeway again to repeat this process with the north side of the bridge. Officials are predicting backups of 32 miles in each direction over the July weekend, and as long as 50 miles under their worst-case scenario. Surface streets in the area, many of which snake up and down windy canyons, will be jammed. "We're hoping that the message that has been put out repeatedly will take root with everyone that drives, and they will stay out of the area," said Kirk Albanese, deputy chief at the Los Angeles Police Department. "But recognizing that that may not occur, we're planning for the very difficult traffic circumstances that we may be faced with."
So how many of you plan on being brave enough to drive over in this traffic this weekend?
Im staying the heck away. Work is letting us leave at 3pm on Friday, but I dont think Ill be going into the office because thats still a deathwish... its not even something i want to entertain
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