Los Angeles ‘Carmageddon’ Overrated?

Jul 15 2011           Jump To Discussion

LOS ANGELES – Friday July 15 2011 at Midnight marks the beginning of what now has become known as Los Angeles’ Carmageddon.

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The closing of a 10 miles stretch of the 405 freeway in both directions starting on Friday Jul 15 at 12:00 Am and ending on Monday Jul 18 at 5:00 Am, has been painted by media as Los Angeles driving doomsday.

People are advised by local government to get out of town during that weekend, stay home and stock up on food items and other household necessities.

The Los Angeles city council even went as far as churning up the catch word ‘Carmageddon’ (an Armageddon caused by cars), to describe what is now believed to become a absolute nightmare for Los Angelinos.

But will it really be that horrible?

The freeway that is being temporarily shutdown to allow construction workers to take down an overhead bridge, is notoriously a very clogged artery in Los Angeles’s traffic system; one that sees its daily share of massive gridlocks.

Drivers in Los Angeles, who travel that route daily, have come accustomed to taking two hours drive time to complete a 12 to 18 miles distance during rush hours.

Traffic in Los Angeles, is never smooth or easy on any day.  During rush hours, freeways in Los Angeles transform in gigantic car parking lots as far as the eye can see.

What then is all the fuzz about?

The concern comes from the excess traffic that travels back and forth all day long over the bridge that is being taken down as well as the inability of using the 405 freeway to get out of or into Los Angeles.

That means that all that traffic will have to be rerouted on city streets.

And here too, Los Angeles has notoriously bad gridlocks augmented by recent road revisions that now include single lanes, extended red traffic lights timer delays and multiple stop signs, all of which are “designed” to “slow down” Los Angeles’ massive traffic.

For Los Angelinos, getting “caught in traffic’ is a daily occurrence; one they may not necessarily enjoy but one they’ve learned to tolerate and live with.

Why the city is painting the closure of a stretch of the 405 freeway as a nail biting, blood boiling, heart-attack like monstrous event is only something the council can answer, especially since the closure of the 10 mile stretch occurs on a weekend, when most drivers sleep late and aren’t on the road to go to work or head home.

OK! It is summer time and most likely that contributes to more cars being on Los Angeles roads than what is usual for an L.A. weekend. Still, that traffic volume is nowhere near the weekday traffic.

The only real devil that could create a carmageddon would be early Monday morning.  Since the lanes won’t reopen till 5:00 Am that morning, drivers who need to be at work early may experience an almost standstill commute.

Of course there is also the chance the project won’t get done on time.  In that case traffic flow over the 405 freeway may well turn into a nightmare.  But a $6,000 fine for every 20 minutes the project goes over 5:00 Am, will have the construction company see to it that the project gets completed on time.

As for Angelinos in general, the 10 mile closing of the 405 freeway is just one more traffic gridlock like the thousands others we endure day in and day out.

Traffic jams in Los Angeles are part of live.  It’s what gives Los Angeles part of its charm: a mayhem of cars driven by people who chat on phone, put on their make-up, brush their hair, shave their beards, read a book or a paper or enjoy a juice burger.

The closure may make for a bit denser traffic and having a “relieve yourself” canister laying on the backseat may be a good idea during the July 15 weekend; it isn’t anything so horrendous you need to lock yourself away for 3 days.

Just know that the closure is there, that traffic will be slower, even on surface streets and give yourself  ample time to get where you’re going and this too shall pass without a cinch.

View of Los Angeles taken from Paul Getty Center located alongside 405 freeway

Why the 405 is being shut down?

On average the Sepulveda pass has about 500,000 cars passing through that section during weekends, heading to LAX, the beach, work or connect to a joining freeway.

The fifty year old Mulholland bridge running over the pass, needs to be torn down to allow constructing of a new bridge and widening of the freeway below.

 

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