Rough weekend in the San Fernando Valley
Jul 16, 2011 18:24:45 GMT
Post by komsomol on Jul 16, 2011 18:24:45 GMT
Los Angeles Freeway Is Closed and Life Goes On
LOS ANGELES — Well, no one can claim to have been caught by surprise.
As promised (or threatened, depending on your point of view), Los Angeles shut down a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 405 at midnight Friday, putting out of commission, for a projected 53 hours, one of the most heavily traveled highways in the country to accommodate the latest phase of a $1 billion road-widening project.
Considering that every day 500,000 cars travel the highway, which connects western Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley by traversing the Sepulveda Pass, city officials have been vigorous in warning about potentially cataclysmic traffic problems.
“There has been a lot of hype, and well-intentioned hype, because we wanted to make sure people really got the message: stay at home!” said Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa.
A lot of people were doing precisely that or, when necessary, plotting trips across the affected area.
“Unfortunately, I have to go across town this weekend because I have a concert at the Hollywood Bowl,” said Eryn Ferdman, 43, who lives in Marina del Rey. “Normally, I don’t even leave my neighborhood on the weekends. And with this going on, I wouldn’t leave for sure. But I got these tickets a while ago.”
Eve Bostick, 23, who lives in Brentwood, had her day planned. “I’m going to go see the Harry Potter movie, and then I’m going on a pub crawl.”
Early Saturday, the initial signs were that things were going well. The 405 was weirdly empty, but so were many of the side roads that officials had feared would be jammed as motorists searched for detours. Elaborate traffic maps and mobile phone apps set up to track the shutdown showed just one stretch of red — the closed highway — with everything else green and as clear as the sun that rose over Los Angeles on Saturday morning.
The highway is being shut down to allow workers to tear down the southern part of the bridge that takes Mulholland Drive over the 405. Some people were camped out on Saturday morning to watch the work. City officials pledged that it would be finished by 5 a.m. Monday, plenty of time for the morning commute — and back to the typically horrendous traffic conditions.
The contractor is facing a fine of $6,000 for every 10 minutes it goes beyond the deadline, so some city officials were hopeful that the work would be done even earlier than promised.
This is a huge event for Angelinos.
LOS ANGELES — Well, no one can claim to have been caught by surprise.
As promised (or threatened, depending on your point of view), Los Angeles shut down a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 405 at midnight Friday, putting out of commission, for a projected 53 hours, one of the most heavily traveled highways in the country to accommodate the latest phase of a $1 billion road-widening project.
Considering that every day 500,000 cars travel the highway, which connects western Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley by traversing the Sepulveda Pass, city officials have been vigorous in warning about potentially cataclysmic traffic problems.
“There has been a lot of hype, and well-intentioned hype, because we wanted to make sure people really got the message: stay at home!” said Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa.
A lot of people were doing precisely that or, when necessary, plotting trips across the affected area.
“Unfortunately, I have to go across town this weekend because I have a concert at the Hollywood Bowl,” said Eryn Ferdman, 43, who lives in Marina del Rey. “Normally, I don’t even leave my neighborhood on the weekends. And with this going on, I wouldn’t leave for sure. But I got these tickets a while ago.”
Eve Bostick, 23, who lives in Brentwood, had her day planned. “I’m going to go see the Harry Potter movie, and then I’m going on a pub crawl.”
Early Saturday, the initial signs were that things were going well. The 405 was weirdly empty, but so were many of the side roads that officials had feared would be jammed as motorists searched for detours. Elaborate traffic maps and mobile phone apps set up to track the shutdown showed just one stretch of red — the closed highway — with everything else green and as clear as the sun that rose over Los Angeles on Saturday morning.
The highway is being shut down to allow workers to tear down the southern part of the bridge that takes Mulholland Drive over the 405. Some people were camped out on Saturday morning to watch the work. City officials pledged that it would be finished by 5 a.m. Monday, plenty of time for the morning commute — and back to the typically horrendous traffic conditions.
The contractor is facing a fine of $6,000 for every 10 minutes it goes beyond the deadline, so some city officials were hopeful that the work would be done even earlier than promised.
This is a huge event for Angelinos.
