“And so people who are traversing through the city of LA can choose the car pool lane and be out in a much quicker, faster way,” said Krishniah Murthy who oversees Metro’s construction projects.īesides improving ramps and extending the carpool lane, there is all of that bridge work. Once the carpool lane extension is complete, the 70-mile straight shot along the 405, from Orange County to the San Fernando Valley, will be the longest carpool lane in the world. In addition to the work on the ramps, the project has another key element: a carpool lane running from the 10 to the 101. The city of L.A., the state, and the federal government are jointly paying the billion-dollar bill. The Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project is a joint venture between Metro and Caltrans. “We have to carpool, we have to plan ahead, we have to put more time in our schedule," Rosendahl emphasized. He said people who travel through this interchange have to adjust to Ramp Jam. LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl sits on the council’s transportation committee. Work started on the first two ramps in June, and officials don’t expect to finish all eight until spring 2013. Yaroslavsky said the ramp work – some call it “Ramp Jam,” some call it “Rampture” – will help traffic flow and make getting on and off the 405 safer. “Tens of thousands of freeway bound motorists travel here on a daily basis," said Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro board member Zev Yaroslavsky, as he stood near the congested Wilshire-405 interchange recently. This stretch of the 405 is certainly due for a makeover – it was built about a half century ago, when there were millions fewer people living in, and driving around, the southland.Īnother critical part of the project is improving the area’s freeway ramps, especially the cluster of eight ramps at Wilshire Boulevard. Welcome to the Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project, a billion dollar plan to wipe out gridlock and spruce up the nation’s busiest highway. There’s been so much talk about ‘Carmageddon - the Sequel’. The work is just one small part of a much bigger project. Over the weekend, workers will demolish the north side of the Mulholland Bridge. Friday night, crews will start shutting down ramps along the 405 freeway – northbound between the 10 and the 101, southbound between the 101 and Getty Center Drive. See photos of the trespassers and the demolition of the Mulholland Drive Bridge.Around 7 p.m. have this real sense of freedom," she said. "The idea was that hey, we all live in L.A., we all have to come in, deal with the traffic and stuff, so while the freeway is wide open, we wanted to. Melly Lee and her friends also got onto the closed freeway to skateboard and take a few photos. "I kind of went up to the side of the freeway and just went right on," Whitehead said. Some trespassers were even bold enough to send Eyewitness News pictures of their adventure.Ĭindy Whitehead skateboarded down the empty freeway while her husband snapped pictures. However, the event's promoters had a contract signed months ago.Īt least seven citations were handed out Sunday for trespassing on the 405 Freeway during the closure. There was a triathlon that went on as scheduled and caused some congestion on the west side. For the most part, Carmageddon 2 went smoothly. Many drivers heeded warnings from officials to stay away from the area. There will be other work in the future, and occasionally, lanes will close, but officials say no total freeway closure is anticipated. The demolition is part of the $1 billion Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project, which adds a 10-mile northbound carpool lane. Caltrans had a lot more work, the contractor had more work to do, but we'll take an early opening any day," said Metro spokesman Dave Sotero. "We certainly didn't open 17 hours early like last time. The bridge deck and the columns were taken apart piece by piece. The full freeway closure went into effect Friday night so that workers could demolish the north side of the Mulholland Bridge. "Since they didn't have to do any additional repairs, they were to quickly clean it, re-stripe it if necessary and get traffic going back through again," said Patrick Chandler of Caltrans. Monday deadline because repairs were not needed on the road. The reopening of the busiest and most congested freeway in the U.S. The freeway was officially reopened by midnight. Sunday, and the southbound lanes followed. Northbound lanes began reopening around 8:45 p.m. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa during a news conference.ĭrivers honked as they drove through the Sepulveda Pass. Neither the first time nor the second time did it happen," said L.A. "Everybody predicted the worst traffic, a nightmare, Armageddon-type nightmare.
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