If you live anywhere near Los Angeles, I’m sure you’re well aware that a section of the 405 freeway (the major artery connecting north Los Angeles to the west side) will be closed this weekend. Starting at midnight on July 16th (or right at 12:01am) they will be blowing up the Mulholland Bridge between the 101 and the 10 freeways with the idea that the section will reopen early Monday morning on the 18th. Now for those that live in other states, you might be thinking, “So what? Use another highway.” Los Angeles doesn’t have very many alternatives for those living on the north traveling to the west side. We’re pretty much land-locked by the Santa Monica mountains. My major complaints about this situation are:
- I’m mostly concerned with CalTrans finishing by the morning of the 18th. I’ve been teaching a summer school class in Pasadena and if this mess isn’t cleaned up by early Monday morning, the 5 freeway that I take will be jam-packed. Instead of getting there within a palatable 40 minutes, it could take me up to 2-3 hours to travel 31 miles. Yuck!
- Over the weekend, the side streets will be slammed. So no one is planning on traveling over to the west side, right? That means instead of thousands of people leaving the “valley”, they’ll be stuck here driving around the side streets. Sweet.
These concerns are noticeably mine alone, but I’m sure others are just as worried. Think about the poor souls who live in the valley and have to work on the west side. I’m sure there are some who just couldn’t get out of working this up coming weekend. They will be crawling through the canyon roads.
For those who live along the canyon roads, they might as well stay put inside their homes. Just trying to exit their driveways will be a nightmare.
Emergency crews have already stated their concern; God forbid there’s a brush fire this weekend. Not only would people not be able to flee their homes, emergency crews wouldn’t be able to get in.
Why, oh, why must the 405 be closed? Supposedly it will allow for a widening connector to be used which will save travelers as much as 10 minutes off their commute time. Uh, huh. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Here’s a video that might explain this event better (*disclaimer: there are some offensive hand signals used. My apologies.)
There is one other video about carmageddon on YouTube that is hilarious. But it was a bit more offensive; or at least the subtitles were. 😉
Will you be affected by this freeway closure? Vent your frustrations here.
21 Comments
Seems like maybe they should be investing in some public transit and bike lanes instead of a big highway project. However, I feel your pain. I hate traffic. Good luck getting to your class on Monday!
@No Debt MBA – Years ago they talked about a monorail going down the middle of the 405. I kind of think that would have been an excellent solution had they figured out a quick way to make stops and have express service buses on busy off ramps. I still think this is a great idea, but the city has since ditched that idea. The other day I was staring at the cemented LA river thinking it would be great if a bike lane ran the entire length of it; it intersects many parts of the city and would be faster than driving on the freeways some days, but most people aren’t behind that kind of plan. It’s a pity.
I hear that there’s a carmaggedon facebook page, tshirts, etc. Good luck getting through it. I think it’s a perfect opportunity for a vacation day.
@First Gen American, Jana, and Money Beagle – It all went very smoothly; hardly any real traffic on the freeways or even on our local streets. I guess people really did stay home! 🙂
i live clear across the country so this doesn’t affect me at all. but, boy, do i feel bad for you guys!
Wouldn’t an alternative for some be to simply stay home? Is every trip this weekend that would involve driving on the 405 absolutely necessary? If you have a trip or a wedding or something like that planned, then fine, I see the issue, but if you’re just driving around town, to the beach, to go shopping or whatever, just wait until a different weekend. If enough people put off their trips, this won’t be an issue. But if it is an issue, I’ll have a lot of fun watching the news coverage (from way afar in Michigan)
The media (national & local) has made this into the biggest event of the century! I have a feeling it will be a non event similar to 1984 LA Olympics.
@Krantcents -You’re right. All hype and no real carmageddon. It all went smoothly and the 405 is already reopened. Hurray!
Oh, the pros and cons of living in one of the most desirable cities in the world. Remember, you have awesome weather 🙂
@Barb Friedberg – Yes, the weather is awesome but you pay for it in the traffic. 😉 However, the 405 is reopen ahead of schedule so everything should be back to normal tomorrow; stop and go, bumper to bumper traffic.
May be time to invest in a small scooter, and weave in and out of traffic like you’re on Roman Holiday. 🙂
@101 Centavos – I was thinking the same thing the other day, but the traffic is normally so crazy, it’s a scary idea! P.S. there wasn’t any real carmageddon, it all went smoothly. 😉
I read it went much better than expected and is done hours early. Woot!
@Kay – Krantcents was right; it was all hype and no carmageddon. Even the traffic in the valley was really light for the weekend! I guess we can go without our cars for a couple of days. 😉
Obviously Carmaggedon would not affect me as I am in Michigan. I was happy for all of you Californians that it was finished in time for work on Monday. I can’t imagine how awful it would have been had it been finished ‘on time’.
Good job highway workers!
I read about this in the newspaper even though I am far from California. I am glad that it was completed on time. Did you just stay home this past weekend?
Glad it finished on time and wasn’t so bad overall. That’s good news.
Meanwhile, here in Chicago, I had my own Carmageddon last week when it took me 2 hours to drive 30 miles on the highway (yep, 15 mph on average!). There was very little construction too!
It went great. I didn’t even see much traffic on the surface streets, looks like everyone stayed home or left for vacation 🙂 Also I read that the contract was that for every 5 minute delay, the contractor will lose something like $1500. Great incentive to get it done on time.
@Suba – Maybe that incentive motivated them to finish early. I agree that traffic was much lighter than usual, even on the valley’s streets. I loved it!
So…it turns out it wasn’t bad at all, nobody was inconvenienced, and it actually finished ahead of schedule. What project finishes 16 hours ahead of schedule?? Amazing. I planned a weekend in the valley, and later realized I didn’t have to! Great job by the planning committee.
@Daniel -I agree. That construction project went more smoothly than expected. I’m impressed!