|
Thursday, 27 September, 2012 10:16 PM
“Carmageddon
II” I-405 Freeway Closure Now Scheduled for September 29-30,
2012
Statewide
Advance Notice Motorist Advisory
PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com
Heavy
traffic along I-405 Northbound in the Westwood district of L.A.
This stretch of the freeway will be completely shut down in both
directions, Sept. 29 and 30.
|
LOS ANGELES -- The
second 10-mile closure of both directions of the I-405 over the
Sepulveda Pass, popularly known as “Carmageddon,” has
now been scheduled for Sept. 29- 30, 2012 when contractors will
demolish the remaining side of the Mulholland Bridge. Motorists
throughout the State of California are advised to “Plan Ahead,
Avoid the Area, or Eat, Shop and Play Locally” to avoid generating
extreme auto congestion in the project area and throughout the greater
Los Angeles region.
The Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), California Department
of
Transportation (Caltrans), Metrolink, Los Angeles Police Department,
California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles Department of Transportation
and Los Angeles Fire Department are giving the public advance notice
to enable everyone to make all necessary advance travel arrangements
to avoid the closure area that weekend.
The I-405 is the nation’s
busiest freeway and will be closed in both directions for 53 consecutive
hours between the I-10 and U.S. 101. Half a million motorists drive
this portion of the I-405 over a typical weekend.
“This closure will
surely impact the nearly 250,000 motorists from all over the county
that travel the Sepulveda Pass each day on the weekend,” said
Metro Board Chair and L.A. County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.
“Law enforcement, transportation and emergency response agencies
strongly advise that county residents make plans in advance to use
an alternate route or transit.”
On Friday, September
28, ramps along the 10-mile closure area will begin to be shut down
as early as 7 p.m., and closure of individual freeway lanes will
begin at 10 p.m. to ensure full freeway closure by midnight. The
closure is scheduled to continue until 5 a.m. Monday morning, Oct.
1. Ramps and connectors will be reopened by 6 a.m. During this closure,
the Mulholland Bridge, I-405 freeway and access ramps will be closed.
As with the previous
I-405 closure, Sepulveda Boulevard is intended as an alternate route
for local resident access only. Sepulveda Boulevard does not have
the capacity to accommodate both local and diverted freeway traffic.
Motorists should instead use alternate regional freeway routes to
completely bypass the area. These include the 5, 15, 23, 55, 57,
101, 118, 126, 210, 605 and 710 freeways.
“Last year, we proved
that Angelenos far and wide could rise to the occasion and cooperate
with authorities to turn Carmageddon into ‘Carmaheaven’
free of apocalyptic traffic congestion,” said Antonio Villaraigosa,
L.A. City Mayor and Metro Board Member. “It was truly one of
L.A.’s finest moments. We are again calling on the public to
do its civic duty. Do not become complacent.
Rather, let’s join
together to enjoy another car-light or car-free weekend with family
and friends Let’s all help get this critical job done safely
and without incident.”
The potential for gridlock
is markedly greater this time due to several critically important
factors.
First, public apathy
increases the risk following an aggressive internationally publicized
outreach campaign warning of extreme road and freeway congestion
that was successfully averted last year. More motorists may now
be tempted to rejoin local roads and freeways, which has the potential
to create the very traffic congestion and multi-hour delays transportation
and law enforcement officials have warned about.
Secondly, the contractor’s
early completion of demolition work ended the first freeway closure
17 hours earlier than previously scheduled. This time, the contractor
is unlikely to complete the work early because it has more demolition
work to perform within the same 53-hour period. Two sets of bridge
columns, rather than one the prevous year, must now be removed.
Demolition work will also be more complicated due to the presence
of inactive utility lines not present in the previous bridge demolition
work.
Lastly, the serious risk
factors to the regional road and freeway system have not changed
from last year. The I-405 is still the nation’s busiest freeway.
The demolition work is still being performed in a canyon with no
immediate, effective north/south alternatives. The closure area
still connects with I- 10 and U.S. 101, both major interstate freeways
with their own capacity limitations. There is stilllimited elasticity
in the overall regional freeway system to accommodate diverted I-405
freeway traffic.
“During Carmageddon
I, drivers proved the skeptics wrong. They heard our warnings and
stayed off the roads, creating a traffic breather not seen since
the free-flowing freeways of the 1984 Olympics,” said L.A.
County Supervisor and Metro Board Member Zev Yaroslavsky. “I
have every confidence they'll rise to the occasion again. So give
your stress a rest. Get out of your cars. Take a walk, plant a garden,
have a barbeque with neighbors. Let's make this another Carmageddon-
Schmarmegeddon experience for us all.”
Motorists who must travel
during this weekend are advised to plan ahead, monitor real-time
traffic conditions prior to beginning their trips, and follow alternate
routes that are provided. Motorists will be informed of the closure
in advance by Caltrans-operated freeway message signs with coverage
extending into neighboring counties and other metropolitan regions
throughout the state.
Public transportation
options are available such as the Metro Rail service within L.A.
County and Metrolink servicing the five county Southern California
region.
The demolition and reconstruction
of the Mulholland Bridge is required to widen the freeway as part
of the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project. The $1 billion,
10-mile northbound carpool lane construction project is a joint
effort between Metro and Caltrans, and is being constructed by Kiewit
Infrastructure West Co. It is scheduled for completion in 2013.
For latest updates visit
the project web site at www.metro.net/405
or follow the project on twitter: twitter.com/I_405
and Facebook at facebook.com/405project.
Source: Metro / Cal
Trans / CHP
Related Story:
PHOTO
BY JASON RZUCIDLO / ©AMERICAJR.com
Motorists
will have to find another way to get around the Sepulveda Pass this
weekend.
|
